Lateral electric field liquid crystal display device and manufacturing method thereof

ABSTRACT

The liquid crystal display device includes a transparent electrode formed in a plan form and a strip or strips transparent electrode disposed thereon via an insulating film, and controls display by rotating the liquid crystal aligned substantially in parallel to a substrate within a plane that is substantially in parallel to the substrate by an electric field between the both electrodes. Each pixel constituting the display is divided into two regions, the extending directions of the strip electrode in each of the regions are orthogonal, the alignment azimuths of the liquid crystal of each of the regions are orthogonal, and the angles formed between the extending directions of the strip electrode and the alignment azimuth of the liquid crystal are the same.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/689,334, filed Nov. 29, 2012, is based upon and claims the benefit ofpriority from Japanese patent application Nos. 2011-261631, filed onNov. 30, 2011, and No. 2012-064318, filed on Mar. 21, 2012 thedisclosures of which are incorporated herein in its entirety byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a lateral electric field liquid crystaldisplay device which implements an active matrix type liquid crystaldisplay device and the like excellent in the viewing anglecharacteristics.

2. Description of the Related Art

The widely used TN (Twisted Nematic) mode is of high contrast. On theother hand, the molecule axes of the liquid crystal of that mode rise bythe vertical electric field, so that the viewing angle dependency istremendous. Recently, it is desired to acquire the same picture qualitywhen viewed from any directions regarding display device forlarge-scaled monitors such as TVs and regarding portable informationterminals. In order to satisfy such demands, employed more and more arethe modes with which the liquid crystal is rotated on a planesubstantially in parallel to the substrate by applying an electric fieldsubstantially parallel to the substrate, such as an IPS (In-planeSwitching) mode and an FFS (Fringe Field Switching) mode. With suchlateral electric field modes, the axes of molecules of the nematicliquid crystal aligned horizontally are rotated within a plane that isin parallel to the substrate by the lateral electric field. This makesit possible to suppress changes in the picture quality caused by theviewing angle directions according to the rise of the axes of themolecules, so that the viewing angle characteristics can be improved.

However, the viewing angle characteristics are not perfect even in thecase of the lateral electric field mode. In particular, the nematicliquid crystal used for the lateral electric field mode exhibits theuniaxial optical anisotropy. Thus, there is acquired prescribedretardation when viewed from the normal direction of the substrate.However, as shown in FIG. 16, when viewed from an oblique viewingdirection by tilting the viewing angle from the normal of the substrate,there are different changes in the retardation caused by the liquidcrystal layer for the case where the viewing angle is tilted to themajor-axis direction of the liquid crystal and for the case where theviewing angle is tilted to the minor-axis direction of the liquidcrystal. In the case where the viewing angle is tilted to the minor-axisdirection, the refractive index anisotropy of the liquid crystal on theappearance does not change. Thus, the optical path length transmittingthe liquid crystal layer becomes greater, so that the retardation Δn·dbecomes greater. Meanwhile, in the case where the viewing angle istilted to the major-axis direction, the refractive index anisotropy ofthe liquid crystal on the appearance becomes smaller. Thus, theretardation Δn·d becomes smaller, even though the optical path lengthtransmitting the liquid crystal layer becomes longer. Normally, with thelateral electric field mode, black display is acquired by making thealignment direction of the liquid crystal aligned with one of absorptionaxes 28 and 29 (FIG. 16) of the crossed Nichol polarization plate byapplying no voltage and white display is acquired through rotating theliquid crystal from the polarization axis direction by applying alateral electric field. In that state, the effective retardation becomessmaller when viewed from the oblique viewing angle of the azimuth of therotated liquid crystal due to the reasons described above, so that thechromaticity is shifted to the direction of blue. When viewed from theoblique direction perpendicular to the azimuth of the rotated liquidcrystal, the effective retardation becomes greater. Thus, thechromaticity is shifted to the direction of red. Therefore, both casesare to be colored.

Further, as shown in FIG. 17, polarization axes 60 and 61 are orthogonalto each other from the front direction, and the liquid crystal rotatestherebetween to control the transmission light. However, when viewedfrom the oblique viewing angle direction at the azimuth of 45 degreesfrom the polarization axis, the transmission axes of the polarizationplate do not become orthogonal to each other as shown in FIG. 17B andFIG. 17C, so that an azimuth 62 of ordinary light axis of the liquidcrystal comes to rotate between the non-orthogonal polarization axes.Therefore, in the oblique viewing direction in a state where the azimuth62 of the ordinary light axis of the liquid crystal is facing towardsthe polarizer absorption axis (black display from the front), light isleaked so that the black display state becomes brighter. Further, whenviewed from the viewing direction in a layout as shown in FIG. 17B, theluminance is decreased at the point where the liquid crystal is slightlyrotated from the black display state. This results in generatinginversion of gradation.

In the technique depicted in JP No. 3120751 (Patent Document 1), asshown in FIG. 20A, disclosed is a method with which the directions of anelectric field 70 applied to the liquid crystal are set to two mutuallyopposite directions which make a specific angle with respect to aninitial alignment direction 69 of the liquid crystal. Through settingthe electric field 70 to be applied from the two directions as describedabove, the liquid crystal rotates in different directions from eachother in a region 1 and a region 2 provided that each of the regionswhere the electric fields are generated is defined as the region 1 (65)and the region 2 (66).

When viewed from the oblique viewing angle at an azimuth 71 of theviewing angle making 45 degrees with respect to the absorption axes 28and 29 of the both polarization plates, the liquid crystal is to berotated to the two directions making at about 45 degrees from thedirection of the polarization axes for white display. Thus, as shown inFIG. 20B, the major-axis direction and the minor-axis direction from theoblique direction of the liquid crystal in the both regions compensatewith each other. Therefore, it is possible to suppress coloring observedfrom the oblique directions as described in FIG. 16.

Further, as shown in FIG. 20C, among four quadrants formed by thenon-orthogonal polarization axes 60 and 61, liquid crystal directors inthe region 1 are rotated in a quadrant where the angle formed by thepolarization angles is an obtuse angle while the liquid crystaldirectors in the region 2 are rotated in a quadrant where the angleformed by the polarization angles is an acute angle. Thus, the bothregions compensate with each other, so that the inversion of gradationviewed from the oblique direction at 45 degrees can also be suppressed.

The technique of Patent Document 1 described above is designed to rotatethe liquid crystal by applying the voltage between two kinds of stripelectrodes 63 and 64 by the lateral electric field 70 generatedtherebetween. In the meantime, recently, widely used is the so-calledFFS-mode lateral electric field liquid crystal display device in which,as shown in FIG. 28A and FIG. 28B, a plan electrode 82 is formed on asubstrate 81, a strip electrode 84 is disposed thereon via an insulatingfilm 83, a voltage is applied therebetween, and a fringe electric fieldsubstantially in parallel to the substrate 81 generated at the edges ofthe strip electrode 84 is used to rotate a liquid crystal 85.

Through the use of such lateral electric field liquid crystal displaydevice that utilizes the fringe electric field, the liquid crystal onthe electrodes can also be rotated. Therefore, the light use efficiencycan be increased even more. Further, with the FFS mode, the rotation ofthe liquid crystal becomes dominant on the substrate side where thefringe electric field is formed. Thus, compared to the rotation of theliquid crystal by the pure lateral electric field, the dependency of theelectro-optical property on the thickness of the liquid crystal layerbecomes smaller and the margin of the liquid crystal cell gap becomesgreater. Therefore, the difficulties of manufacturing can be eased.

However, in the case of the FFS mode, the voltage-transmittancecharacteristics is largely shifted towards the low-voltage side as shownin FIG. 29 when the viewing angle is tilted towards the initialalignment direction of the liquid crystal in particular. Thus, thedelicate coloring using the half gray tone level becomes whiter in theoblique viewing angle direction.

As a result of analyzing such phenomenon, it is found that there are twofollowing reasons. As shown in FIG. 18A, a case where the viewing angleis tilted by η from the normal of the substrate towards the azimuth ofthe polarization axis of the incident-side polarization plate, isconsidered. The unit vectors in the absorption axis direction of theorthogonal polarization plates when viewed from the front are defined asthe p for the polarizer and a for the analyzer. Considering the statewhere the liquid crystal director is rotated by θ from the initialstate, the director n of the liquid crystal can be expressed as follows.

n=cos θ·p+sin θ·a

Provided that the unit vector in the direction of a light propagation iss and that the transmission axis directions of the polarization platesperpendicular to the light propagation are p′, a′ and the axis directionof the ordinary light of the liquid crystal orthogonal to the lightpropagation is n′, following relations can be acquired.

p′=p×s

a′=a×s

n′=n×s=cos θ·p′+sin θ·a′

While p′ and a′ are orthogonal to each other, the lengths thereof aredifferent as shown in the following expressions.

|p┘|=cos η

|a′|=1

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 18B, the angle φ formed between n′ and p′becomes larger than θ. In this case, the transmission can be acquired bya following expression.

T∝cos²(π/2−2φ)=sin²(2φ)>sin²(2θ)

Therefore, the transmittance of the oblique viewing angle becomesrelatively larger in the region where θ is small compared to “θ−T”characteristics from the front when θ changes. Thus, the peak is at thepoint where φ corresponds to 45 degrees. When φ becomes equal to orlarger than that, the transmittance is decreased inversely and deviatedfrom the ideal characteristics. In the case of FFS, the rotation anglebecomes larger because a strong lateral electric field is generated inthe vicinity of the edges of the strip electrodes while the electricfield is weak and the rotation angle is small on the strip electrodes aswell as in the part corresponding to the slits between the stripelectrodes. Thus, a high transmittance can be acquired by rotating theliquid crystal on the average in those regions. Therefore, in thevicinity of the edges of the strip electrodes with high light useefficiency, the liquid crystal is largely rotated from the region wherethe voltage is relatively low. Thus, the rotation angle φ when viewedfrom the oblique viewing angle becomes still larger. As a result, therotation angle φ of the liquid crystal when viewed from the obliqueviewing angle exceeds 45 degrees with a voltage that is considerablylower than the voltage with which the highest transmittance can beacquired from the front view, which eminently causes a phenomenon oftransmittance saturation.

In a case where the lateral electric field 70 is applied between the twokinds of strip electrodes 63 and 64 as shown in FIG. 20A, the liquidcrystal is mainly rotated by the lateral electric field 70 generatedbetween the electrodes 63 and 64. Thus, the liquid crystal is notrotated so much on the strip electrodes 63, 64 and transmittance nearbyis low. However, it is not necessary to increase the rotation of theliquid crystal between the electrodes 63 and 64 so much. Therefore,while the shift as described above is generated slightly, the level ofthe shift is so small that it is not an issue.

As shown in FIG. 21A, considered is a case where there are twodirections of the electric field 70 for the initial alignment 69 of theliquid crystal in a case of the FFS mode. In this case, it is possibleto improve the viewing angle regarding the coloring and the inversion ofgradation in a case of viewing from the azimuth of 45 degrees from thepolarization plates due to the same reason for which the electric fieldis applied from two directions in the mode where the lateral electricfield is applied between the strip electrodes shown in FIG. 20A.However, as shown in FIG. 21A, it is not possible to suppress thelow-voltage shift of the voltage-transmittance characteristics whenviewed from the oblique direction of the azimuth of p. This can bedescribed as follows. The ordinary light directions n1′ and n2′ of theliquid crystal perpendicular to the light propagation lay can beexpressed as in following expressions.

n1′=n1×s=cos θ·p′+sin θ·a′

n2′=n2×s=cos θ·p′−sin θ·a′

As shown in FIG. 21B, the angle φ formed between n′ and p′ is equivalentin the both regions. Thus, the liquid crystal is rotated faster than thecase of the rotation angle θ of the front view, so that it is notpossible to compensate with each other even when the electric field 70is applied to two directions. Therefore, it is not possible to overcomesuch issue that the voltage-transmittance characteristics is shifted tothe low-voltage side, and the display thereby appears whiter in a brighthalftone and that a delicate coloration cannot be displayed correctly inthe oblique viewing angle.

Further, liquid crystal molecules generally have pretilt. When anelectric field is applied, the liquid crystal molecules tend to rise inthe rising direction of the pretilt. When the liquid crystal rises as inthis case, the ordinary light direction n′ of the liquid crystal viewedfrom the oblique viewing angle shifts to the direction of z′ given by afollowing expression provided that z is the unit vector of the directionperpendicular to the substrate as shown in FIG. 19.

z′=z×s

Therefore, the rotation angle θ of the liquid crystal becomes stilllarger, so that the shift of the voltage-transmittance characteristicstowards the low-voltage direction becomes still greater when viewed fromthe oblique viewing angle of the direction of the rise of the pretilt.As a result, white-tinged display with a light halftone becomesdominant.

In view of the above-described factors, it is an exemplary object of thepresent invention to provide a fine display device with which thedelicate coloration of a halftone does not appear as white-tinged whenviewed from any viewing angles by suppressing the shift of thevoltage-transmittance characteristics to the low-voltage side whenviewed from the oblique viewing angle of the azimuth of the initialalignment of the liquid crystal in an FFS mode that is capable of moreeasily increasing the transmittance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The lateral electric field liquid crystal display device according to anexemplary aspect of the invention is characterized as a lateral electricfield liquid crystal display device which includes: a substrate; a planelectrode formed in a plan form on the substrate; a strip electrode orstrip electrodes formed in a strip form on the plan electrode via aninsulating film; and a liquid crystal aligned substantially in parallelto the substrate, the liquid crystal display device controlling adisplay by rotating the liquid crystal within a plane substantially inparallel to the substrate by an electric field between the planelectrode and the strip electrode, wherein: each pixel constituting thedisplay is divided into a first region and a second region; an extendingdirection of the strip electrode of the first region and an extendingdirection of the strip electrode of the second region are orthogonal; analignment azimuth of the liquid crystal of the first region and analignment azimuth of the liquid crystal of the second region areorthogonal; and an angle formed between the extending direction of thestrip electrode in the first region and the alignment azimuth of theliquid crystal and an angle formed between the extending direction ofthe strip electrode in the second region and the alignment azimuth ofthe liquid crystal are same.

The lateral electric field liquid crystal display device manufacturingmethod according to another exemplary aspect of the invention is amethod for manufacturing the lateral electric field liquid crystaldisplay device, wherein alignment processing of the liquid crystal isperformed by photo-alignment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the structure of one pixel of a liquidcrystal display device according to a first exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along A-A′ of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an alignment state of one pixel of theliquid crystal display device according to the first exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 4A is a chart showing the viewing angle characteristics of therelated technique;

FIG. 4B is a chart showing the viewing angle characteristics of thefirst exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the state of division of the alignmentover a plurality of pixels according to the first exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the structure of one pixel of a liquidcrystal display device according to a second exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing an alignment state of one pixel of theliquid crystal display device according to the second exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing an alignment state of one pixel of aliquid crystal display device according to a third exemplary embodiment;

FIGS. 9A and 9B show charts of improvements of the viewing anglecharacteristics according to the third exemplary embodiments;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing an alignment in the boundary betweenregions where only the pretilt angles are different in the liquidcrystal display device according to the third exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing the state of division of the alignmentover a plurality of pixels according to the third exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing an alignment state of one pixel of aliquid crystal display device according to a fourth exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 13 is a plan view showing the structure of one pixel of a liquidcrystal display device according to a fifth exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a sectional view taken along A-A′ of FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a plan view showing an alignment state of one pixel of theliquid crystal display device according to the fifth exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 16 is a chart for describing an issue of the viewing anglecharacteristics of a lateral electric field mode according to therelated technique;

FIGS. 17A, 17B and 17C show charts for describing another issue of theviewing angle characteristics of a lateral electric field mode accordingto the related technique;

FIGS. 18A and 18B show charts showing the reason for the shift of thevoltage transmittance characteristics when viewed from the azimuth ofthe absorption axis of an incident-side polarization plate in a lateralelectric field type of an FFS mode according to the related technique;

FIG. 19 is a chart for describing the theory of causing the shift of thevoltage-transmittance characteristics in accordance with the rise of theliquid crystal in a lateral electric field type of an FFS mode accordingto the related technique;

FIGS. 20A and 20B shows chart regarding the effects of the improvementsin the viewing angle according to the related technique;

FIGS. 21A and 21B show charts regarding issues of the viewing anglecharacteristics which cannot be overcome by the related technique;

FIGS. 22A and 22B show charts of the theory for improving the viewingangle according to the present invention;

FIGS. 23A and 23B show charts regarding the effects of the improvementsin the viewing angle according to the present invention;

FIGS. 24A and 24B show charts regarding the effects of the improvementsin the viewing angle according to the present invention 1;

FIG. 25 is a chart for describing the relation between the direction ofthe pretilt of the liquid crystal and the extent of the rise of theliquid crystal when an electric field is applied;

FIG. 26 is a chart for describing that the extent of the rise of theliquid crystal when an electric field is applied becomes symmetric byeffectively setting the direction of the pretilt of the liquid crystalto 0 degree;

FIG. 27 is a plan view showing the state of division of the alignmentover a plurality of pixels according to the fifth exemplary embodiment;

FIGS. 28A and 28B show charts showing the structure of the FFS modeaccording to the related technique;

FIG. 29 shows a chart of a case where the voltage-transmittancecharacteristics when viewed from the oblique viewing angle of theazimuth of the absorption axis of the incident-side polarization plateand the voltage-transmittance characteristics when viewed from the frontare compared in the FFS mode of the related technique;

FIG. 30 is a plan view showing four neighboring pixels according to asixth embodiment;

FIG. 31 is a plan view showing four neighboring pixels according to aseventh embodiment;

FIG. 32 is a plan view showing four neighboring pixels according to aneighth embodiment;

FIG. 33 is a plan view showing four neighboring pixels according to aninth embodiment;

FIG. 34 is an example showing the direction of the liquid crystal inregions of different pretilt directions according to the thirdembodiment;

FIG. 35 is another example showing the direction of the liquid crystalin regions of different pretilt directions according to the thirdembodiment;

FIG. 36 is still another example showing the direction of the liquidcrystal in regions of different pretilt directions according to thethird embodiment;

FIG. 37 is yet another example showing the direction of the liquidcrystal in regions of different pretilt directions according to thethird embodiment;

FIG. 38 is a plan view showing twelve neighboring pixels according to atenth embodiment; and

FIG. 39 is a plan view showing twelve neighboring pixels according to aneleventh embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the drawings, disclosed are: a plan common electrode (plan electrode)1; a common signal wiring 2; a scanning line 3; a light-shielding layer4 constituted with a first metal layer; a data line 5; a thin filmsemiconductor layer 6; a pixel electrode part 7 constituted with asecond metal layer; a pixel electrode through hole 8; a strip pixelelectrode (strip electrode) 9; a part 10 for connecting the strip pixelelectrodes; a strip electrode 11; a liquid crystal 12; a gate insulatingfilm 13; a passivation film 14; alignment films 15, 16; a black matrix17; a color layer 18; an overcoat 19; transparent insulating substrates(substrate, counter substrate) 20, 21; an incident-side polarizationplate 22; an exit-side polarization plate 23; a region 1 (first region,24) of a first exemplary embodiment; an initial alignment direction 25of the region 1 of the first exemplary embodiment; a region 2 (secondregion, 26) of the first exemplary embodiment; an initial alignmentdirection 27 of the region 2 of the first exemplary embodiment; anincident-side polarization plate absorption axis 28; an exit-sidepolarization plate absorption axis 29; a region 1 (first region, 30) ofa second exemplary embodiment; an initial alignment direction 31 of theregion 1 of the second exemplary embodiment; a region 2 (second region,32) of the second exemplary embodiment; an initial alignment direction33 of the region 2 of the second exemplary embodiment; a region 1 (thirdregion within the first region, 34) of a third exemplary embodiment; aninitial alignment direction 35 of the region 1 of the third exemplaryembodiment; a region 2 (fourth region within the first region, 36) ofthe third exemplary embodiment; an initial alignment direction 37 of theregion 2 of the third exemplary embodiment; a region 3 (fifth regionwithin the second region, 38) of the third exemplary embodiment; aninitial alignment direction 39 of the region 3 of the third exemplaryembodiment; a region 4 (sixth region within the second region, 40) ofthe third exemplary embodiment; an initial alignment direction 41 of theregion 4 of the third exemplary embodiment; an electric field 42; a risedirection 43 of the liquid crystal; a region 1 (third region within thefirst region, 44) of a fourth exemplary embodiment; an initial alignmentdirection 45 of the region 1 of the fourth exemplary embodiment; aregion 2 (fourth region within the first region, 46) of the fourthexemplary embodiment; an initial alignment direction 47 of the region 2of the fourth exemplary embodiment; a region 3 (fifth region within thesecond region, 48) of the fourth exemplary embodiment; an initialalignment direction 49 of the region 3 of the fourth exemplaryembodiment; a region 4 (sixth region within the second region, 50) ofthe fourth exemplary embodiment; an initial alignment direction 51 ofthe region 4 of the fourth exemplary embodiment; strip common electrode(strip electrode) 52; a plan pixel electrode (plan electrode) 53; acommon electrode through hole 54; a common electrode 55 for shielding abus line; a region 1 (first region, 56) of a fifth exemplary embodiment;an initial alignment direction 57 of the region 1 of the fifth exemplaryembodiment; a region 2 (second region, 58) of the fifth exemplaryembodiment; an initial alignment direction 59 of the region 2 of thefifth exemplary embodiment; an incident-side polarization plateabsorption axis 60; an exit-side polarization plate absorption axis 61;a liquid crystal ordinary light azimuth 62; a strip pixel electrode 63;a strip common electrode 64; a region 1 (65); a region 2 (66); a liquidcrystal ordinary light azimuth 67 of the region 1; a liquid crystalordinary light azimuth 68 of the region 2; a liquid crystal alignmentazimuth 69; an electric field 70; a viewing angle azimuth 71; a liquidcrystal ordinary light azimuth 72 of the region 1; a liquid crystalordinary light azimuth 73 of the region 2; a substrate 81; a planelectrode 82; an insulating film 83; a strip electrode 84; a liquidcrystal 85; alignment azimuths 86, 87 when the alignment is dividedbetween pixels; liquid crystal pretilt directions 88, 89; a TFT arraysubstrate 90; a color filter substrate 91; pixels 92, 93, 94, 95; oneunit 96 of display; pixels 96R, 96G, 96B; one unit 97 of display; pixels97R, 97G, 97B, and the like.

In order to overcome the above-described issues, the liquid crystaldisplay device of the present invention 1 is a lateral electric fieldliquid crystal display device which includes a transparent electrodeformed in a plan form and a strip transparent electrode formed anddisposed thereon via an insulating film, the liquid crystal displaydevice controlling a display by rotating the liquid crystal aligned onthe substrate substantially in parallel within a plane substantially inparallel to the substrate by an electric field between the bothelectrodes, wherein: each pixel constituting the display is divided intotwo regions and the extending direction of the strip electrode in eachregion are set to be orthogonal so that the directions of the lateralelectric fields formed in each of the regions become orthogonal to eachother; alignment directions of liquid crystal molecules in each of theregions are orthogonal to each other; and the angles formed between theextending directions of the strip electrode and the alignment directionsof the liquid crystals are the same. FIG. 22 shows charts for describingthe theory of the present invention 1. As in the charts, the pixel isdivided into two regions, alignment of the liquid crystal is set to betwo orthogonal directions (72, 73), the directions of the lateralelectric fields 70 formed by the strip electrode 11 in each region areset to be orthogonal to each other by setting the direction of theelectric fields formed by the strip electrode in each of the regions tomake a specific angle with the alignment directions of each of theregions. Each of the regions is defined as the region 1 (65) and theregion 2 (66).

In this case, as shown in FIG. 22B, the liquid crystal molecules arealways facing with each other by 90 degrees at all the voltages so thatcoloring is compensated from all the directions. Further, when viewedobliquely from 45-degree directions as shown in FIG. 22C, the liquidcrystal directors are to move different quadrants of the non-orthogonalpolarization axes 60 and 61.

Thus, those are to compensate with each other. Therefore, inversion ofgradation viewed from the oblique viewing angle of 45-degree directionsas the second issue can be suppressed as well. Further, when viewed fromthe oblique viewing angle of the azimuth of p as shown in FIG. 23A,ordinary light directions n1′ and n2′ of the liquid crystal orthogonalto the light propagation in the region 1 (65) and the region 2 (66) canbe expressed as in following expressions.

n1′=n1×s=cos θ·p′+sin θ·a′

n2′=n2×s=−sin θ·p+cos θ·a′

As shown in FIG. 23B, angle φ1 formed between the azimuth n1′ of theordinary light of the liquid crystal of the region 1 (65) and p′ andangle φ2 formed between the azimuth n2′ of the ordinary light of theliquid crystal of the region 2 (66) and a′ are different, and therelation thereof can be expressed as follows.

φ1>θ>φ2

Transmittance T1 of the region 1 (65) and transmittance T2 of the region2 (66) compensate with each other.

FIG. 24A shows the transmittance of each of the regions 1 and 2 whenviewed from the viewing angle in the azimuth of p at a polar angle of 60degrees. It is quite shifted from the front viewing angle in both theregion 1 and region 2. However, it can be brought closer to thetransmittance curve of the front viewing angle by compensating in theboth regions. As shown in FIG. 24B, comparing them by the graphs whichis normalized by the peak transmittance, it can be found that thetransmittance curve becomes close to the curve for the front view due tothe compensation of the region 1 and region 2.

In a case of the lateral electric field liquid crystal display devicewhich includes a transparent electrode formed in a plan form and a striptransparent electrode formed and disposed thereon via an insulating filmand controls display by rotating the liquid crystal molecules aligned ona substrate substantially in parallel within a plane substantially inparallel to the substrate by an electric field between the bothelectrodes, a strong lateral electric field (fringe field) is formed inthe vicinity of the strip transparent electrode. Thus, the liquidcrystal is greatly rotated by relatively a low voltage, so that thevoltage-transmittance curve is largely shifted to the low-voltage side,if it is used with the region 1 alone. Therefore, by providing, withinone pixel, the two regions where the alignment of the liquid crystal andthe applying direction of the electric field are set to be orthogonal,it is possible to acquire the fine lateral electric field liquid crystaldisplay device having less shift in the voltage-transmittancecharacteristics even when viewed from the oblique viewing angle from thedirection of the polarization axis.

The present invention 2 is an active matrix type liquid crystal displaydevice which is characterized that the two regions having the orthogonalalignment directions in the lateral electric field crystal displaydevice according to the present invention 1 are formed to havesubstantially a same-size area.

As described above, by making the two regions of the orthogonalalignment directions constituting the pixel have the same-size area, thecompensation between the both regions becomes perfect. This makes itpossible to acquire still finer viewing angle characteristics. Thepresent invention 3 is a lateral electric field liquid crystal displaydevice according to the present invention 1 or 2, which is characterizedthat the pretilt angle of the liquid crystal is substantially 0 degreeand the voltage-transmittance properties when viewed from the obliqueviewing angles that are in 180 degree different azimuths are almostequivalent.

In general, the directors of the liquid crystal have pretilt withrespect to the substrate face since the liquid crystal molecules arealigned to rise in the direction of rubbing when alignment processing bythe rubbing is performed. When such pretilt angle exists, rise of theliquid crystal directors by the fringe electric field becomes larger inthe direction of the pretilt as shown in FIG. 25 when the electric fieldis applied.

When the liquid crystal directors shift and rise from the plane inparallel to the substrate, as has been described by referring to FIG.19, the ordinary light axis direction of the liquid crystal is shiftedtowards the direction of z′, the rotation angle of n′ within p′−a′ planebecomes large, and the voltage-transmittance characteristics is shiftedto the low-voltage side.

In the meantime, when photo-alignment and the like are employed, thepretilt angle can be set to substantially 0 degree. As shown in FIG. 26,the rise of the liquid crystal directors by the fringe electric fieldbecomes symmetric, so that the voltage-transmittance properties whenviewed from the oblique viewing angles that are in 180 degree differentazimuths become almost equivalent. This makes it possible to suppressincrease in the deterioration of the voltage-transmittancecharacteristics when viewed from the oblique viewing angle of oneazimuth, so that it is possible to acquire a fine display property inall the azimuths.

The present invention 4 is a lateral electric field liquid crystaldisplay device which is characterized that the liquid crystal in thelateral electric field liquid crystal display device according to thepresent invention 1 has a pretilt angle larger than 0 degree and tworegions having opposite pretilt directions from each other exist in eachof the two regions having the orthogonal alignment directions.

There are cases where it is not possible to avoid incidence of pretiltdepending on the conditions and the like of the alignment film or thealignment process. In that case, through providing the two regionshaving the opposite pretilt directions from each other in the tworegions having the orthogonal alignment azimuths, the directions wherethe rise of the liquid crystal becomes dominant becomes opposite fromeach other in the regions where the directions of the pretilt areopposite from each other. Thus, the viewing angle characteristics whenviewed from the oblique viewing angles of each of the rise directionsare averaged. Thereby, it is possible to acquire the lateral electricfield liquid crystal display device of extremely excellent viewing anglecharacteristics, which exhibits only small shift in thevoltage-luminance characteristics even when viewed from the obliqueviewing angles of all the azimuths.

The present invention 5 is a lateral electric field liquid crystaldisplay device which is characterized that the two regions having thepretilt of opposite directions existing on each of the regions of thetwo alignment azimuths of the lateral electric field liquid crystaldisplay device according to the present invention 4 are formed to havealmost a same-size area.

Because the two regions having the same alignment azimuth and thepretilt of opposite directions are formed to have substantially thesame-size area, the optical compensation works perfectly between theboth regions. Thus, the voltage-transmittance properties when viewedfrom the oblique viewing angles that are in 180 degree differentazimuths become almost equivalent.

This makes it possible to suppress increase in the deterioration of thevoltage-transmittance characteristics when viewed from the obliqueviewing angle of one azimuth, so that it is possible to acquire a finedisplay property in all the azimuths.

The present invention 6 is a lateral electric field liquid crystaldisplay device which is characterized that the boundaries between thetwo regions having the pretilt of opposite directions existing on eachof the regions of the two alignment azimuths of the lateral electricfield liquid crystal display device according to the present invention 4or 5 are formed along the strip transparent electrode.

As shown in FIG. 10, the boundary between the two regions having thepretilt of opposite directions is formed along the strip transparentelectrode, and the boundary between the region of different pretilt istaken as the vicinity of the center of the electrode, and the directiontowards which the pretilt rises is set towards the boundary. Thisprovides the rise of the pretilt opposite from the direction of theliquid crystal to be risen by the electric field. Thus, the rise of theliquid crystal is suppressed and the alignment is stabilized between theregions of different alignment, so that the uniformity of display can beimproved.

The present invention 7 is a lateral electric field liquid crystaldisplay device which is characterized that at least one of substratesincludes a light shielding layer in the boundary between the regionswhere the alignment azimuths are orthogonal to each other in the lateralelectric field liquid crystal display device according to any one of thepresent inventions 1 to 6. In the boundary between the regions where thealignment azimuths are orthogonal to each other, the alignment azimuthchanges continuously by 90 degrees. In the boundary part, the rise ofdirection of liquid crystal becomes different from the polarization axisof the polarization plate when displaying black. Therefore, it isdesirable to have the light shielding layer at least in one of thesubstrates.

The present invention 8 is a lateral electric field liquid crystaldisplay device which is characterized that the light shielding layer forshielding the boundary of the regions having the orthogonal alignmentdirections from each other of the lateral electric field liquid crystaldisplay device according to the present invention 7 exists on thesubstrate where the electrode forming the lateral electric field isformed, and the light shielding layer is formed with a nontransparentmetal layer having a potential equivalent to that of the commonelectrode or the pixel electrode. Because the light shielding layerexists on the substrate where the electrode forming the lateral electricfield is formed and the light shielding layer is formed with thenontransparent metal layer having the potential equivalent to that ofthe common electrode or the pixel electrode, it is possible to shieldonly the required region with high precision. This makes it possible toshield the light sufficiently without deteriorating the aperture ratioof the pixel. Further, no extra electric field is to be generated, sothat it is possible to acquire stable display.

The present invention 9 is a lateral electric field liquid crystaldisplay device manufacturing method for manufacturing the lateralelectric field liquid crystal display device according to any one of thepresent inventions 1 to 8, which is characterized to perform alignmentprocessing by photo-alignment.

By using the photo-alignment when forming the regions having thedifferent alignment azimuths or the regions having the differentalignment azimuths and the different pretilt within the pixel requiredfor constituting one of the present inventions 1 to 8, it is possible toachieve the divided alignment highly efficiently with high precision andin a stable manner.

The present invention 10 is a lateral electric field liquid crystaldisplay device which includes: a substrate; a plan electrode formed in aplan form on the substrate; a strip electrode formed in a strip form onthe plan electrode via an insulating film; and a liquid crystal alignedsubstantially in parallel to the substrate, the liquid crystal displaydevice controlling a display by rotating the liquid crystal within aplane substantially in parallel to the substrate by an electric fieldbetween the plan electrode and the strip electrode, wherein: a pluralityof pixels constituting the display are arranged in matrix in x directionand y direction; within one of the pixels, an alignment azimuth of theliquid crystal is one direction and an extending direction of the stripelectrode is one direction; and between the pixels neighboring to eachother at least in one of the x direction and the y direction, extendingdirections of the strip electrodes are orthogonal to each other,alignment azimuths of the liquid crystal are orthogonal to each other,and angles formed between the extending direction of the strip electrodeand the alignment azimuth of the liquid crystal are same.

Within one pixel, the alignment azimuth of the liquid crystal is set asone direction, and the extending direction of the strip electrode is setas one direction. Between the neighboring pixels, the alignment azimuthsof the liquid crystal are set to be orthogonal to each other, and theextending directions of the strip electrodes are set to be orthogonal toeach other. Thereby, even with the highly minute pixels with which thealignment within one pixel is difficult to be divided, thevoltage-luminance properties from the oblique viewing angle compensatewith each other between the neighboring pixels. This makes it possibleto acquire fine viewing angle characteristics.

The present invention 11 is the lateral electric field crystal displaydevice according to the present invention 10, which is characterizedthat a pretilt angle of the liquid crystal is substantially 0 degree andvoltage-transmittance characteristics when viewed from oblique viewingangles which are in 180 degree different azimuths are almost equivalent.

Through setting the pretilt angle to be substantially 0 degree, the riseof the liquid crystal directors by the fringe electric field becomessymmetric. Thus, the voltage-transmittance characteristics viewed fromthe oblique viewing angle in 180 degree different azimuths become almostequivalent. Thereby, increase in the deterioration of thevoltage-transmittance characteristics from the oblique viewing angle ofone azimuth can be suppressed, so that a fine display property can beacquired in all the azimuths.

The present invention 12 is the lateral electric field liquid crystaldisplay device according to the present invention 10, which ischaracterized that: the liquid crystal has a pretilt angle larger than 0degree; and four of the pixels having a same color layer neighboring toeach other in the x direction and the y direction are four kinds ofpixels constituted with a combination of two kinds of the liquid crystalalignment azimuths orthogonal to each other and two kinds of the liquidcrystal pretilt directions reversed from each other.

Within one pixel, the alignment azimuth of the liquid crystal, thedirection of the pretilt of the liquid crystal, and the extendingdirection of the strip electrode are set as one direction. Between theneighboring pixels, the alignment azimuths of the liquid crystal becomeorthogonal to each other, the extending directions of the stripelectrodes become orthogonal to each other, and the directions of thepretilt become opposite from each other. Through having four kinds ofpixels in which those characteristics are combined, thevoltage-luminance characteristics from the oblique viewing anglecompensate with each other between the neighboring pixels even with thehighly minute pixels with which the alignment within one pixel isdifficult to be divided. This makes it possible to acquire fine viewingangle characteristics.

According to the present invention, in the FFS mode liquid crystaldisplay device with which the transmittance can be easily improved andthe manufacturing margin such as the control and the like of the liquidcrystal layer thickness can be taken wide, shift of thevoltage-transmittance characteristics particularly when viewed from theoblique viewing angle of the initial alignment azimuth of the liquidcrystal towards the low-voltage side from the voltage-transmittancecharacteristics of the front viewing angle can be suppressed. Thus, itis possible to acquire the liquid crystal display device of an extremelyexcellent viewing angle property with which there is only a small shiftof the voltage-luminance characteristics and only small coloring evenwhen viewed from any azimuth.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, modes for embodying the present invention (referred to as“exemplary embodiments” hereinafter) will be described by referring tothe accompanying drawings. In this Description and the Drawings, samereference numerals are applied to substantially the same structuralelements. Shapes in the drawings are illustrated to be easily understoodby those skilled in the art, so that dimensions and the ratios thereofdo not necessarily match with those of the actual ones.

First Exemplary Embodiment

A first exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be describedby referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 3. FIG. 1 is a plan viewshowing the structure of one pixel of a liquid crystal display deviceaccording to the first exemplary embodiment. FIG. 2 is a sectional viewtaken along A-A′ of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing regions fordividing the alignment directions in the display regions within thepixel.

The first exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1 will be describedhereinafter in details by following the fabricating procedure. First,ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) of 50 nm as a first transparent electrode isdeposited on a glass substrate as a first transparent insulating film20, and a pattern of the common electrode 1 is formed in a plan form.Further, Cr (chrome) of 250 nm as a first metal layer is depositedthereon, and patterns of the scanning line 3 and the common signalwiring 2 are formed from the Cr film.

Then, SiNx (silicon nitride) of 400 nm as the gate insulating film 13,a-Si:H (amorphous silicon hydride) of 200 nm as the thin filmsemiconductor layer 6, and n-a-Si:H (n-type amorphous silicon hydride)of 50 nm are stacked, and the thin film semiconductor layer 6 ispatterned in such a manner that only a TFT part provided as a switchingelement of the pixel remains. Further, Cr of 250 nm as a second metallayer is deposited, and patterns of a data line, a source-drainelectrode of the TFT, and the pixel electrode part 7 constituted withthe second metal layer are formed from the Cr film.

Then, n-a-Si of the TFT part is removed by having the source-drainelectrode of the TFT as a mask. Thereafter, SiNx of 150 nm as theprotection insulating film 14 is formed, and the through-hole 8 forconnecting the pixel electrode is formed in the protection insulatingfilm 14. Further, ITO of 40 nm as a second transparent electrode isformed thereon, and a pattern of a pixel electrode is formed from theITO film. The pixel electrode is formed to connect the both ends of thepattern of the strip electrodes 9 with the connecting part 10. The widthof the strip electrode 9 is set to 3 μm, and the width of the slitbetween the strip electrodes 9 is set to 6 μm.

The strip electrode 9 is extended in the horizontal direction (directionin parallel to the scanning line) in the upper half part of the pixelwhile it is extended in the perpendicular direction (directionperpendicular to the scanning line) in the lower half part, so that theboth are orthogonal to each other. The TFT array is formed by the methoddescribed above.

Further, the black matrix 17 is formed on a glass substrate as thesecond transparent insulating substrate 21 by using a resin black. Thecolor layer 18 of RGB (Red, Green, Blue) is formed thereon in aprescribed pattern, the overcoat 19 is formed thereon, and a columnarspacer (not shown) is formed thereon further to fabricate a color filtersubstrate.

The alignment films 15 and 16 which can be aligned by light irradiationare formed both on the TFT array substrate and the color filtersubstrate fabricated in the manner described above, and photo-alignmentprocessing is performed to form the two regions 24 and 26 as shown inFIG. 3. In the region 24 where the strip electrode 9 is extended in thelateral direction shown in the upper half part of FIG. 3, the alignmentazimuth 25 is set to have an angle of 8 degrees with respect to theextending direction of the strip. At this time, the pretilt angles areset to be 0 degree in both the TFT array substrate and the color filtersubstrate. This region 24 is defined as the region 1.

Meanwhile, in the region 26 where the strip electrode 9 is extended inthe longitudinal direction shown in the lower half part of FIG. 3, thealignment azimuth 27 is set to have an angle of 8 degrees with respectto the extending direction of the strip. At this time, the pretiltangles are set to be 0 degree in both the TFT array substrate and thecolor filter substrate. This region 26 is defined as the region 2.

Note here that the alignment azimuth 25 of the region 24 of the upperhalf part of FIG. 3 and the alignment azimuth 27 of the region 26 of thelower half part are set to be orthogonal. Further, the sizes of theareas of the region 1 and the region 2 are set to be almost equivalent.This makes it possible to perform compensation easily between the tworegions mutually, so that it is possible to acquire fine viewing anglecharacteristics with which change of the voltage-luminancecharacteristics in the viewing angles and coloring depending on theviewing angles are small and the symmetry is fine.

Further, a seal member is applied to the both substrates to belaminated, and the liquid crystal material 12 having a positivedielectric constant is inserted and sealed therein. Note that thephysical property values of the liquid crystal material are set asΔ∈=5.5, Δn=0.100, and the height of the columnar spacer is controlled sothat the liquid crystal layer thickness becomes 4.0 μm.

Further, polarization plates 22 and 23 are laminated on the outer sideof the glass substrates on both sides in such a manner that thepolarization axes are orthogonal to each other. Note here that theabsorption axis direction 28 of the incident-side polarization plate 22on the TFT array substrate side is set to be the same with the initialalignment direction 25 of the region 1. Through loading a backlight anda driving circuit to the liquid crystal display panel fabricated in themanner described above, the active matrix type liquid crystal displaydevice according to the first exemplary embodiment is completed.

In the liquid crystal display device acquired in the manner describedabove, the liquid crystal 12 rotates clockwise both in the region 1 andthe region 2 when an electric field is applied between the strip pixelelectrode 9 and the plan common electrode 1.

The alignment azimuths of the region 1 and the region 2 are orthogonalto each other. As shown in FIG. 22A to FIG. 24B, shift of thevoltage-transmittance characteristics when viewed from the obliqueviewing angle of the initial alignment azimuth of the liquid crystal isan issue with the region 1 or the region 2 alone. In the meantime, withthe first exemplary embodiment, the both regions 1 and 2 are arranged tohave a same-size area. Thus, the viewing angle characteristics of theboth regions 1 and 2 compensate with each other, so that the shift ofthe voltage-transmittance can be remarkably suppressed.

FIG. 4A shows the voltage-transmittance characteristics in each of theregion 1 and the region 2 alone when viewed from the viewing angle ofthe polar angle of 60 degree formed between the azimuth of theabsorption axis 28 of the incident-side polarization plate and aperpendicular of the substrate and the voltage-transmittancecharacteristics when viewed from the front view described above. In thefront view, the voltage-transmittance characteristics of the region 1and the voltage-transmittance characteristics of the region 2 are thesame. However, when viewed from the oblique viewing angle, thevoltage-transmittance characteristics of the region 1 is shifted towardsthe low-voltage side from the property of the front view due to thetheory described in FIG. 18B, and the voltage-transmittancecharacteristics of the region 2 is shifted towards the high-voltage sidedue to the same theory.

In the meantime, in the case of the first exemplary embodiment, theregion 1 and the region 2 are formed to have almost a same-size areawithin one pixel. Thus, the both compensate with each other optically.Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4B, it is possible to suppress shift of thevoltage-transmittance characteristics when viewed from the obliqueviewing angle to be remarkably small. This makes it possible to acquirea liquid crystal display device of extremely excellent viewing anglecharacteristics with which the shift of the voltage-luminancecharacteristics as well as coloring is small even when viewed from theoblique viewing angles of all the azimuths.

Further, since the alignment directions of the region 1 and the region 2are orthogonal, there is a part in the boundary thereof where thealignment azimuth changes by 90 degrees. In this part, the liquidcrystal directors face towards the azimuth different from thepolarization axis of the polarization plate at the time of black displaystate. Thus, light is transmitted, which may cause light leakage, sothat it is desirable to shield the light. In this case, light isshielded by disposing the common signal wiring 2 constituted with thefirst metal layer in that region. Thereby, it is possible to shield onlythe required region with high precision, so that light can be shieldedsufficiently without deteriorating the numerical aperture.

Further, the potential of the nontransparent metal layer is of potentialequivalent to that of the common electrode, so that fine display can beacquired without giving an electric disturbance. In the above-describedcase, light leakage is suppressed by disposing the common electrode andthe nontransparent metal layer having the potential equivalent to thatof the common electrode on the TFT array substrate side. However, thesame effects can also be acquired by making the potential of thenontransparent metal layer be equivalent to the potential of the pixel.Further, it is also possible to shield the light in the boundary partbetween the region 1 and the region 2 by providing a black matrix on thecounter substrate side.

Further, FIG. 5 shows a plan view of the expanded region to the partbetween the neighboring pixels. As shown in FIG. 5, in the vicinity ofdata line 5, alignment is done in the azimuth same as the region 1,i.e., in the azimuth that forms 82 degrees with respect to the extendingdirection of the data line 5. With this, motion of the liquid crystalcan be made small by the electric field between the data line 5 and thepixel electrode 10 generated in the lateral direction of the drawing.Thereby, as shown in FIG. 2, it is possible to reduce the width of theblack matrix 17 that shields the vicinity of the data line 5 on thecounter substrate side, so that a wide aperture ratio can be secured.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, there are regions aligned in the sameazimuth as that of the region 1 existing on both sides of the region 2of each pixel. Thus, as shown in FIG. 2, the light shielding layer 4constituted with the first metal layer is disposed by connecting to thecommon electrode 1. This makes it possible to acquire display of a finecontrast with a high numerical aperture.

With the first exemplary embodiment, it is difficult to divide the lightirradiating region completely with a line when performing dividingalignment by irradiation of light. Thus, light is irradiated by havingan overlapped part of about 2 to 3 μm between the regions so that thereis no region where the light is not irradiated within the pixel, i.e.,no region where alignment is not done. Thereby, the part with incompletealignment is not generated within the pixel, and a fine two-dividedalignment can be acquired.

Further, while the angles between the strip pixel electrode 9 and thealignment azimuths 25, 27 are set to be 8 degrees in each of the region1 and the region 2 in the first exemplary embodiment, almost equivalentand fine display can be acquired when that angle is within the range of5 to 10 degrees. Further, in some cases, display of almost no problemcan be acquired when the angle is between 2 degrees and 20 degrees,inclusive. The angle formed between the alignment azimuths 25, 27 andthe extending direction of the strip electrode 9 can be designed asappropriate depending on the shape and the size of the pixel.

As an exemplary advantage according to the invention, the presentinvention makes it possible to acquire the FFS mode liquid crystaldisplay device of an extremely excellent viewing angle characteristics,with which it is possible to suppress the shift of thevoltage-transmittance characteristics to the low-voltage side whenviewed particularly from the oblique viewing angle of the azimuth of theinitial alignment from the voltage-transmittance characteristics of thefront view and with which the shift of the voltage-luminance as well asthe coloration is small even when viewed obliquely from any direction.

Second Exemplary Embodiment

A second exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be describedby mainly referring to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 and also by using FIG. 2. FIG.6 is a plan view showing the structure of one pixel of a liquid crystaldisplay device according to the second exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention. FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the regions where thealignment directions are divided in a display region within the pixel.The sectional view thereof showing the structure of one pixel is thesame as FIG. 2 of the first exemplary embodiment.

In the case of the second exemplary embodiment, the strip electrode 9 isextended in the direction rotated counterclockwise by 8 degrees from thehorizontal direction (extending direction of the scanning line) in aregion of an upper half part of a pixel, and the strip electrode 9 isextended in the direction orthogonal thereto in a region of a lower halfpart of the pixel. In the region 30 in the upper half part of FIG. 7where the strip electrode 9 is extended in the direction rotatedcounterclockwise by 8 degrees from the horizontal direction (extendingdirection of the scanning line), the alignment azimuth 31 is set in thehorizontal direction. At this time, the pretilt angle is set to 0 degreein both the TFT array substrate and the color filter substrate. Thisregion 30 is defined as the region 1. Further, in the region 32 in thelower half part of FIG. 7 where the strip electrode 9 is extended in thedirection rotated counterclockwise by 8 degrees from the longitudinaldirection (direction orthogonal to the extending direction of thescanning line), the alignment azimuth 33 is set in the longitudinaldirection. At this time, the pretilt angle is set to 0 degree in boththe TFT array substrate and the color filter substrate. This region 32is defined as the region 2.

Note that the angles are so set that the alignment direction 31 of theregion 30 of the upper half part of FIG. 7 and the alignment azimuth 33of the region 32 of the lower half part become orthogonal. Other thanthat, the manufacturing method, the sectional structure, and the likeare to follow those of the first exemplary embodiment.

In this case, the region 1 and the region 2 compensate with each otheras in the case of the first exemplary embodiment. Thus, the viewingangle characteristics becomes equivalent to that of FIG. 4B, and finecharacteristics can be acquired.

As in the case of the first exemplary embodiment, the same alignmentstate as that of the region 1 is employed in the vicinity of the dataline 5. In the case of the second exemplary embodiment, the electricfield generated between the data line 5 and the pixel electrode 10 is ofthe lateral direction which matches the alignment azimuth of theregion 1. Thus, there is no motion of the liquid crystal 12 in thevicinity of the data line 5 caused by the electric field. Therefore, thewidth of the black matrix 17 for shielding the part between the dataline 5 and the pixel electrode 10 on the counter side can be made stillsmaller than the case of the first exemplary embodiment, so that thenumerical aperture can be secured still wider.

In this case, the same alignment direction as that of the region 1 is tobe also employed for the regions in the vicinity of the data lines 5 onboth sides of the region 2. Thus, the light shielding layer 4constituted with the first metal layer is disposed by connecting to thecommon electrode 1 in the part to be the boundary between the region 1and the region 2.

Third Exemplary Embodiment

A third exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be describedby mainly referring to FIG. 8 and also by using FIG. 1 as well as FIG.2. FIG. 8 shows the regions where the alignment directions are dividedinto four in a display region within one pixel. The plan view andsectional view of the third exemplary embodiment are the same as FIG. 1and FIG. 2, which are the plan view and the sectional view of one pixelaccording to the first exemplary embodiment. The alignment films 15 and16 which can be aligned by irradiating light are formed in both an arrayTFT substrate and a color filter substrate fabricated in the same methodas that of the first exemplary embodiment, and the photo-alignmentprocessing is performed to form four regions 34, 36, 38, and 40, asshown in FIG. 8.

In the regions (34, 36) of the upper half part of FIG. 8 where the strippixel electrode 9 is extended in the lateral direction, the alignmentazimuths (35, 37) are set to have the angle of 8 degrees with respect tothe extending direction of the strip pixel electrode 9. Each of theregions (34, 36) is further divided into two, and alignment processingis performed in the region 1 (34) of the upper half part so that thepretilt rises in the right direction of the drawing while alignmentprocessing is performed in the region 2 (36) of the upper half part sothat the pretilt rises in the left direction.

Further, in regions (38, 40) of the lower half part of FIG. 8 where thestrip pixel electrode 9 is extended in the longitudinal direction, thealignment azimuths (39, 41) are set to have the angle of 8 degrees withrespect to the extending direction of the strip pixel electrode 9. Eachof the regions (38, 40) is further divided into two, and alignmentprocessing is performed in the region 3 (38) of the left half part sothat the pretilt faces in the upper direction of the drawing whilealignment processing is performed in the region 4 (40) of the right halfpart so that the pretilt faces in the lower direction.

In FIG. 8, the facing directions of the directors are expressed withcones. It shows that the pretilt rises in the direction where the bottomface of the cone is observed. The alignment azimuth is defined as thedirection of the center line of the cone. Note here that the angles areso set that the alignment azimuths 35, 37 of the regions 34, 36 of theupper half part and the alignment azimuths 39, 41 of the regions 38, 40of the lower half part become orthogonal to each other. Further,absolute values of the pretilt angles of the liquid crystal layer ofeach of the regions 34, 36, 38, and 40 are all about 1 degree.

Furthermore, each of the areas of the regions from 1 to 4 (34, 36, 38,40) is set to be almost equivalent. This makes it possible to easilyperform compensation between the four regions 34, 36, 38, and 49mutually, so that it is possible to acquire fine viewing anglecharacteristics with which fluctuation of the voltage-luminancecharacteristics and coloring depending on the viewing angles is smalland the symmetry is fine.

FIG. 34 to FIG. 37 show examples of the directions of the liquid crystalin the regions 1 and 2 of pretilt different directions according to thethird exemplary embodiment. In FIG. 34 to FIG. 37, the direction of thepretilt of the liquid crystal in the region 1 is shown with a referencenumeral 88 while the direction of the pretilt of the liquid crystal inthe region 2 is shown with a reference numeral 89. In the case of thethird exemplary embodiment, the rise direction of the liquid crystal isdetermined mostly by the pretilt directions 88, 89 of the liquid crystalon the TFT substrate 90 side where the fringe electric field is formedmainly. It is common to set the alignment azimuths of the liquid crystalto be the same in the region 1 and the region 2 and to set the pretiltdirections 88, 89 to be in parallel to the alignment azimuth on thecolor filter substrate 91 side as the alignment state where the pretiltdirections 88, 89 are opposite as shown in FIG. 34.

As shown in FIG. 35, it is also possible to employ the so-called splayalignment state where the pretilt directions 88, 89 on the color filtersubstrate 91 side are set to be opposite from those on the TFT arraysubstrate 90 side. As shown in FIG. 36, it is possible to have thepretilt angle only on the TFT array substrate 90 side and to set thepretilt angle on the color filter substrate 91 side to be 0 degree. Inboth cases of the FIGS. 34 to 35, the rise directions of the liquidcrystal in the regions 1 and 2 are completely symmetric. Therefore, thecompensation of the viewing angle characteristics in the both regionsbecome extremely fine.

As shown in FIG. 37, it is also possible to set the pretilt directions88, 89 of the liquid crystal to be opposite form each other between theregion 1 and the region 2 on the TFT array substrate 90 side and to setto be the same between the region 1 and the region 2 on the color filtersubstrate 91 side. In this case, the dividing number of the alignment onthe color filter substrate 91 side can be reduced to a half while thesymmetry of the rise of the liquid crystal in the regions 1, 2 isslightly deteriorated. Therefore, there is such an advantage that themanufacturing steps can be simplified while achieving relatively fineviewing angle characteristics.

Further, a seal member is applied to the both substrates to belaminated, and a liquid crystal material 12 having a positive dielectricconstant is inserted and sealed therein. Note that the physical propertyvalues of the liquid crystal material 12 are set as Δ∈=5.5, Δn=0.100,and the height of the columnar spacer is controlled so that the liquidcrystal layer thickness becomes 4.0 μm.

Further, the polarization plates 22 and 23 are laminated on the outerside of the glass substrates on both sides in such a manner that thepolarization axes are orthogonal to each other. Note here that adirection of the absorption axis 28 of the incident-side polarizationplate 22 on the TFT array substrate side is set to be the same with thealignment directions 35, 37 of the region 1 (34) and the region 2 (36).Through loading a backlight and a driving circuit to the liquid crystaldisplay panel fabricated in the manner described above, the activematrix type liquid crystal display device according to the thirdexemplary embodiment is completed.

When an electric field is applied between the strip electrode 9 and theplan common electrode 1 in the liquid crystal display device acquired inthe manner described above, the liquid crystal rotates clockwise in allthe regions 1 to 4 (34, 36, 38, 40). Rise in the right side direction ofthe screen is dominant in the region 1 (34), rise in the left sidedirection of the screen is dominant in the region 2 (36), rise in thelower side direction of the screen is dominant in the region 3 (38), andrise in the upper side direction of the screen is dominant in the region4 (40).

The alignment azimuths of the regions 1, 2 (34, 36) and the regions 3, 4(38, 40) are orthogonal to each other. Thus, as shown by using FIG. 22Ato FIG. 24B when describing the viewing angle characteristics, thevoltage-luminance properties from the oblique viewing angles compensatewith each other.

Further, the dominant rise directions in the region 1 and the region 2are set in the right side direction and the left side direction, so thatthe both regions are averaged. Thus, there is no great change generatedin the voltage-luminance characteristics in one direction, and thechange can be suppressed. Further, the dominant rise directions in theregion 3 and the region 4 are set in the upper side direction and thelower side direction, so that the both regions are averaged as well.Therefore, there is no great change generated in the voltage-luminancecharacteristics in one direction, and the change can be suppressed.

FIG. 9A shows the voltage-transmittance characteristics of a case viewedfrom the viewing angle of 60-degree polar angle from the azimuth of therise of the pretilt in the region 1 when the region 1 and the region 2have the same pretilt as that of the region 1 of the third exemplaryembodiment and the region 3 and the region 4 have the same pretilt asthat of the region 3 of the third exemplary embodiment. Further, FIG. 9Bshows the voltage-transmittance characteristics in a case viewed fromthe same viewing angle when a pixel is divided into four regionsincluding the pretilt as in the case of the third exemplary embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 9A, when 3V is applied in the state where the pixel isdivided into two only by the azimuth directions, about 10% is increasedin the normalized transmittance with respect to the characteristics ofthe front view when viewed from the viewing angle direction describedabove. In the meantime, as shown in FIG. 9B, increase in thetransmittance can be suppressed to about 5% for the same voltage and thesame viewing angle when the pixel is divided into four as in the case ofthe third exemplary embodiment. As described, the viewing anglecharacteristics can be made still finer through dividing the pixel intofour and by also dividing the direction of the pretilt in addition tothe alignment azimuths.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the boundary between the region 1 and theregion 2 having different pretilt and the boundary between the region 3and the region 4 are set to be in the center of the strip pixelelectrode 9. FIG. 10 shows the sectional view of the vicinity of thestrip pixel electrode 9.

As shown in FIG. 10, the electric field 42 to rise towards the upperright from the center works on the right side, and the electric field 42to rise towards the upper left from the center works on the left side.When the boundary between the regions of different pretilt is set to bethe vicinity of the center of the electrode 9 and the direction 43towards which the pretilt rises is set towards the boundary, it comes tohave the pretilt opposite from the direction 43 towards which the liquidcrystal 12 is to be risen by the electric field. Thus, rise of theliquid crystal 12 is suppressed, so that the alignment between theregions of different alignment can be stabilized and uniformity ofdisplay can be improved.

Further, since the alignment directions of the region 2 and the regions3, 4 are orthogonal, there is a part in the boundary thereof where thealignment azimuth changes by 90 degrees. In this part, the liquidcrystal directors face towards the azimuth different from thepolarization axis of the polarization plate at the time of black displayin particular. This may cause light leakage, so that it is desirable toshield the light. In this case, light is shielded by disposing thecommon signal wiring 2 constituted with the first metal layer in thatregion. Thereby, it is possible to shield only the required region withhigh precision, so that light can be shielded sufficiently withoutdeteriorating the aperture ratio. Further, the potential of thenontransparent metal layer is equivalent to that of the commonelectrode, so that fine display can be acquired without giving anelectric disturbance.

In the above-described case, light leakage is suppressed by disposingthe nontransparent metal layer of the potential equivalent to that ofthe common electrode on the TFT array substrate side. However, the sameeffects can also be acquired by making the potential of thenontransparent metal layer be equivalent to the potential of the pixel.Further, it is also possible to shield the light in the boundary partbetween the region 2, the region 3, and the region 4 by providing ablack matrix on the counter substrate side.

Further, FIG. 11 shows a plan view of the expanded region to the partbetween the neighboring pixels. As shown in FIG. 11, in the vicinity ofthe data line 5, the both sides of the region 1 of the upper half partof the pixel are set to be in the same alignment state as that of theregion 1, and the both sides of the region 2 thereof are set to be inthe same alignment state as that of the region 2. Both sides of theregions 3 and 4 of the lower half part of the pixel are set to be in thesame alignment state as that of the region 2.

With this, on the data line 5, motion of the liquid crystal 12 can bemade small by the electric field between the data line 5 and the pixelelectrode 10 generated in the lateral direction of the drawing throughsetting the alignment to the direction close to the azimuth orthogonalto the data line 5 among the different alignment azimuths. Thus, it ispossible to reduce the width of the black matrix 17 that shields thepart between the data line 5 and the pixel electrode 10 on the counterside, so that a wide aperture ratio can be secured.

In this case, the same alignment azimuth as that of the region 2 isemployed for the regions in the vicinity of the data line on both sidesof the regions 3 and 4. Thus, the light shielding layer 4 constitutedwith the first metal layer is disposed in the part to be the boundarybetween the region 3 and the region 4 by connecting to the commonelectrode 1.

It is difficult to divide the light irradiating region completely with aline when performing dividing alignment by irradiation of light. Thus,light is irradiated by having an overlapped part of about 2 to 3 μmbetween the regions so that there is no region where the light is notirradiated within the pixel, i.e., no region where alignment is notdone. Thereby, the part with incomplete alignment is not generatedwithin the pixel, so that a fine four-divided alignment can be acquired.

Fourth Exemplary Embodiment

As a fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention, shown is acase where the facing directions of pretilt are set as two directionsfor the same alignment azimuth of a pixel structure that is equivalentto the pixel plan view of the second exemplary embodiment, as in thecase of the third exemplary embodiment. FIG. 12 shows the regions wherethe alignment directions are divided in a display region within thepixel. The fourth exemplary embodiment will be described by mainlyreferring to FIG. 12 and also by using FIG. 2 and FIG. 6.

In the case of the fourth exemplary embodiment, the strip electrode 9 isextended in the direction rotated counterclockwise by 8 degrees from thehorizontal direction (extending direction of the scanning line) in theregions (44, 46) of an upper half part of a pixel, and the stripelectrode 9 is extended in the direction orthogonal thereto in theregions (48, 50) of a lower half part of the pixel.

In the regions (44, 46) in the upper half part of FIG. 12 where thestrip electrode 9 is extended in the direction rotated counterclockwiseby 8 degrees from the horizontal direction (extending direction of thescanning line), the alignment azimuths 45 and 47 are set in thehorizontal direction. Each of the regions (44, 46) is further dividedinto two, and alignment processing is performed in the region 1 (44) ofthe upper half part in the direction towards which the pretilt rises inthe right direction of the drawing while alignment processing isperformed in the region 2 (46) of the lower half part in the directiontowards which the pretilt rises in the left direction. Further, in theregions (48, 50) in the lower half part of FIG. 12 where the stripelectrode 9 is extended in the direction rotated counterclockwise by 8degrees from the longitudinal direction (direction orthogonal to theextending direction of the scanning line), the alignment azimuths 49 and51 are set in the longitudinal direction. Each of the regions (48, 50)is further divided into two, and alignment processing is performed inthe region 3 (48) of the left half part in the direction so that thepretilt faces in the upper direction while alignment processing isperformed in the region 4 (50) of the right half part so that thepretilt faces in the lower direction.

Note here that the angles are so set that the alignment azimuths 45, 47of the regions 44, 46 of the upper half part of FIG. 12 and thealignment azimuths 49, 51 of the regions 48, 50 of the lower half partbecome orthogonal to each other. Further, absolute values of the pretiltangles of the liquid crystal layer of each of the regions 44, 46, 48,and 50 are all about 1 degree. Other than that, the manufacturingmethod, the structure, and the like are to follow those of the firstexemplary embodiment.

In this case, the four regions 44, 46, 48, and 50 compensate with eachother as in the case of the third exemplary embodiment. Thus, theviewing angle characteristics becomes equivalent to that of FIG. 9B, sothat a fine property can be acquired.

As in the case of the third exemplary embodiment, the both sides of theregion 1 (44) in the upper half part of the pixel in the vicinity of thedata line 5 are set to be in the same alignment state as that of theregion 1 (44), and the both sides of the region 2 (46) are set to be inthe same alignment state as that of the region 2 (46). The both sides ofthe regions 3, 4 (48, 50) in the lower half part of the pixel are set tobe in the same alignment state as that of the region 2 (46). As in thecase of the fourth exemplary embodiment, the electric field between thedata line 5 and the pixel electrode 10 is generated in the lateraldirection which matches the alignment azimuths of the region 1 and theregion 2. Thus, there is no motion of the liquid crystal 12 in thevicinity of the data line 5 caused by the electric field. Therefore, thewidth of the black matrix 17 for shielding the part between the dataline 5 and the pixel electrode 10 on the counter side can be made stillsmaller than the case of the third exemplary embodiment, so that theaperture ratio can be secured still wider.

In this case, the same alignment direction as that of the region 2 is tobe employed for the regions in the vicinity of the data lines 5 on bothsides of the regions 3 and 4. Thus, the light shielding layer 4constituted with the first metal layer is disposed by connecting to thecommon electrode 1 in the part to be the boundary therebetween.

Fifth Exemplary Embodiment

A fifth exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be describedby referring to FIGS. 13, 14, and 15. FIG. 13 is a plan view showing thestructure of one pixel of a liquid crystal display device according tothe fifth exemplary embodiment. FIG. 14 is a sectional view taken alongA-A′ of FIG. 13. Further, FIG. 15 is a plan view showing the regionswhere the alignment directions are divided into two in the displayregion within a pixel.

The fifth exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 13 will be described indetails hereinafter by following the fabricating procedure. First, Cr of250 nm as a first metal layer is deposited on a glass substrate as thefirst transparent insulating plate 20, and patterns of the scanning line3 and the common signal wiring 2 are formed from the Cr film.

Then, SiNx of 400 nm as the gate insulating film 13, a-Si:H of 200 nm asthe thin film semiconductor layer 6, and n-a-Si:H of 50 nm are stacked,and the thin film semiconductor layer 6 is patterned in such a mannerthat only a TFT part provided as a switching element of the pixelremains. Further, Cr of 250 nm as a second metal layer is deposited, andpatterns of the data line 2, the source-drain electrode of the TFT, andthe pixel electrode part 7 constituted with the second metal layer areformed from the Cr film.

Then, n-a-Si of the TFT part is removed by having the source-drainelectrode of the TFT as a mask. Further, ITO of 40 nm as a secondtransparent electrode is formed thereon. A pattern of the plan pixelelectrode 53 is formed from the ITO film, and the pixel electrode 53 isconnected to the pixel electrode part 7 constituted with the secondmetal layer. Then, SiNx of 600 nm as the protection insulating film 14is formed, and the through hole 54 for connecting the common electrode52 to the common signal wiring 2 is formed in the protection insulatingfilm 14. Further, ITO of 40 nm as a third transparent electrode isformed thereon, and a pattern of the common electrode 52 is formed fromthe ITO film. The common electrode 52 is in a form in which the patternof the strip electrodes are connected at the both ends. The width of thestrip electrode 9 is set to 3 μm, and the width of the slit between thestrip electrodes is set to 6 μm.

In the pattern, the strip electrode 9 is extended in the horizontaldirection (direction in parallel to the scanning line) in the upper halfpart of the pixel while it is extended in the perpendicular direction(direction perpendicular to the scanning line) in the lower half part,and the both are set to be orthogonal to each other. Further, the commonelectrode 55 for shielding the bus line is provided to the commonelectrode 52 by covering the data line 5 and the scanning line 3.Thereby, influences of the potential of the bus line at the time ofdrive can be shielded, and a still wider numerical aperture can beacquired.

Through the above-described method, the TFT array is formed. Further,the black matrix 17 is formed on a glass substrate as the secondtransparent insulating substrate 21 by using a resin black. The colorlayer 18 of RGB is formed thereon in a prescribed pattern, the overcoat19 is formed thereon, and a columnar spacer (not shown) is formedthereon further to fabricate a color filter substrate.

The alignment films which can be aligned by light irradiation are formedboth on the TFT array substrate and the color filter substratefabricated in the manner described above, and photo-alignment processingis performed to form the two regions 56 and 58 shown in FIG. 15. In theregion 56 where the strip common electrode 52 is extended in the lateraldirection shown in the upper half part of FIG. 15, the alignment azimuth57 is set to have an angle of 8 degrees with respect to the extendingdirection of the strip. The pretilt angles are set to be 0 degree inboth the TFT array substrate and the color filter substrate. This region56 is defined as the region 1.

Meanwhile, in the region 58 where the strip electrode 52 is extended inthe longitudinal direction shown in the lower half part of FIG. 15, thealignment azimuth 59 is set to have an angle of 8 degrees with respectto the extending direction of the strip. The pretilt angles are set tobe 0 degree in both the TFT array substrate and the color filtersubstrate. This region 58 is defined as the region 2.

Note here that the alignment azimuth 57 of the region 56 of the upperhalf part of FIG. 15 and the alignment azimuth 59 of the region 58 ofthe lower half part are set to be orthogonal. Further, the sizes of theareas of the region 1 (56) and the region 2 (58) are set to be almostequivalent. This makes it possible to easily perform compensationbetween the two regions 56 and 58 mutually, so that it is possible toacquire fine viewing angle characteristics with which fluctuation of thevoltage-luminance characteristics and coloring depending on the viewingangles is small and the symmetry is fine.

Further, a seal member is applied to the both substrates to belaminated, and the liquid crystal material 12 having a positivedielectric constant is inserted and sealed therein. Note that thephysical property values of the liquid crystal material are set asΔ∈=5.5, Δn=0.100, and the height of the columnar spacer is controlled sothat the liquid crystal layer thickness becomes 4.0 μm.

Further, the polarization plates 22 and 23 are laminated on the outerside of the glass substrates on both sides in such a manner that thepolarization axes are orthogonal to each other. Note here that adirection of the absorption axis 28 of the incident-side polarizationplate 22 on the TFT array substrate side is set to be the same with theinitial alignment direction 57 of the region 1. Through loading abacklight and a driving circuit to the liquid crystal display panelfabricated in the manner described above, the active matrix type liquidcrystal display device according to the fifth exemplary embodiment iscompleted.

In the liquid crystal display device acquired in the manner describedabove, the liquid crystal 12 rotates clockwise both in the region 1 andthe region 2 when an electric field is applied between the pixelelectrode 53 and the common electrode 52. The alignment azimuths 57 and59 of the region 1 and the region 2 are orthogonal to each other. Asshown by using FIG. 22A to FIG. 24B, shift of the voltage-transmittancecharacteristics when viewed from the oblique viewing angle of theazimuth of the absorption axis 28 of the incident-side polarizationplate 22 is an issue with the region 1 or the region 2 alone. In themeantime, through disposing the both regions 1 and 2 to have a same-sizearea, the viewing angle characteristics thereof compensate with eachother. Therefore, the shift of the voltage-transmittance can beremarkably suppressed.

FIG. 4A shows the voltage-transmittance characteristics in the region 1alone and the region 2 alone when viewed from the viewing angle of thepolar angle of 60 degree formed between the azimuth of the absorptionaxis of the incident-side polarization plate and a perpendicular of thesubstrate and the voltage-transmittance characteristics when viewed fromthe front view described above. In the front view, thevoltage-transmittance characteristics of the region 1 and thevoltage-transmittance characteristics of the region 2 are consistentwith each other. However, when viewed from the oblique viewing angle,the voltage-transmittance characteristics of the region 1 is shiftedtowards the low-voltage side from the characteristics of the frontviewing angle due to the theory described in FIG. 18B, and thevoltage-transmittance characteristics of the region 2 is shifted towardsthe high-voltage side due to the same theory.

In the meantime, in the case of the fifth exemplary embodiment, theregion 1 and the region 2 are formed to have almost a same-size areawithin one pixel. Thus, the both compensate with each other optically.Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4B, it is possible to suppress shift of thevoltage-transmittance characteristics when viewed from the obliqueviewing angle to be remarkably small. This makes it possible to acquirea liquid crystal display device of extremely excellent viewing anglecharacteristics with which the shift of the voltage-luminancecharacteristics as well as coloring is small even when viewed from theoblique viewing angles of all the azimuths.

Further, since the alignment directions of the region 1 and the region 2are orthogonal, there is a part in the boundary thereof where thealignment azimuth changes by 90 degrees. In this part, the liquidcrystal directors face towards the azimuth different from thepolarization axis of the polarization plate at the time of blackdisplay. This may cause light leakage, so that it is desirable to shieldthe light. In this case, light is shielded by disposing the commonsignal wiring 2 constituted with the first metal layer in that region.Thereby, it is possible to shield only the required region with highprecision, so that light can be shielded sufficiently withoutdeteriorating the numerical aperture. Further, the potential of thenontransparent metal layer is equivalent to that of the commonelectrode, so that fine display can be acquired without giving anelectric disturbance.

In the above-described case, light leakage is suppressed by disposingthe nontransparent metal layer of the potential equivalent to that ofthe common electrode on the TFT array substrate side. However, the sameeffects can also be acquired by making the potential of thenontransparent metal layer be equivalent to the potential of the pixel.Further, it is also possible to shield the light in the boundary partbetween the region 1 and the region 2 by providing a black matrix on thecounter substrate side.

With the fifth exemplary embodiment, the data line 5, the scanning line3, and the part between the scanning line 3 and the common signal wiring2 are shielded by the common electrode 55. Thus, it is not necessary toset the alignment azimuth to the direction close to the horizontaldirection in the vicinity of the data line 5 unlike the case of theexemplary embodiments 1 to 4. Therefore, it is desirable to set thealignment direction on the wiring to be in the same state as that of thealignment azimuth of the adjacent display region. With this, there is noregion where there is a change in the alignment between the alignment onthe wiring and the alignment on the display unit. Thus, it isunnecessary to increase the light shielding region, and the apertureregion can be secured still wider. That is, the both sides of the region1 are set to be in the same alignment state as that of the region 1, andthe both sides of the region 2 are set to be in the same alignment stateas that of the region 2.

Sixth Exemplary Embodiment

A sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described byreferring to FIG. 30. FIG. 30 is a plan view showing the structure offour pixels neighboring to each other along the data line extendingdirection and the scanning line extending direction in a liquid crystaldisplay device according to the sixth exemplary embodiment.

In FIG. 30, a reference numeral 92 is applied only to one of the pixelsas the representative of the four pixels. In the explanations providedbelow, the extending direction of the scanning line 3 is referred to asthe x direction, the extending direction of the data line 5 is referredto as the y direction, a pixel on a given coordinate is referred to as apixel 92 (x, y), the n-th pixel from the pixel 92 (x, y) in the xdirection is referred to as a pixel 92 (x+n, y), and the m-th pixel fromthe pixel 92 (x, y) in the y direction is referred to as a pixel 92 (x,y+m).

In the sixth exemplary embodiment, an alignment azimuth 86 or analignment azimuth 87 of the liquid crystal within one pixel 92 is notdivided. Between the neighboring pixels 92, i.e., between the pixel 92(x, y) and the pixel 92 (x+1, y) as well as between the pixel 92 (x, y)and the pixel 92 (x, y+1), the alignment azimuths 86 and 87 areorthogonal to each other, the extending directions of the strip pixelelectrodes 9 are orthogonal to each other, and the angles formed betweenthe alignment azimuths 86, 87 and the extending direction of the strippixel electrode 9 are the same. Further, the pretilt of the liquidcrystal is set to be 0 degree.

Regarding the neighboring pixels 92, the interval and the width of thestrip pixel electrodes 9 are designed appropriately in such a mannerthat the transmittance thereof when viewed from the front side becomesalmost equivalent.

With this, the voltage-luminance characteristics show low-voltage sideshift within one pixel 92 when viewed from the alignment azimuths 86 and87. However, when the neighboring pixels 92 are combined, thevoltage-luminance characteristics thereof from the oblique viewing anglecompensate with each other. Therefore, fine viewing anglecharacteristics can be acquired. In a case where color layers (RGB)different for each pixel 92 are disposed along the x direction anddisplay is provided by having three pixels 92 as a unit, the color layerof the pixel 92 (x, y) is the same as the color layer of the pixel 92(x+3, y). Regarding the pixel 92 (x, y) and the pixel 92 (x+3, y), thealignment azimuths 86, 87 are orthogonal to each other and the extendingdirections of the strip pixel electrodes 9 are orthogonal to each otheras well. Thus, the viewing angle characteristics thereof compensate witheach other as well. Therefore, the viewing angle characteristics of thepixels 92 having the same color layer compensate with each other betweenthe pixel 92 (x, y) and the pixel 92 (x, y+1) and between the pixel 92(x, y) and the pixel 92 (x+3, As described, through setting thealignment azimuth 86 or the alignment azimuth 87 within one pixel 92 asone direction, it becomes possible to deal with pixels of still higherprecision.

Seventh Exemplary Embodiment

A seventh exemplary embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed by referring to FIG. 31. FIG. 31 is a plan view showing thestructure of four pixels neighboring to each other along the data lineextending direction and the scanning line extending direction in aliquid crystal display device according to the seventh exemplaryembodiment.

In FIG. 31, a reference numeral 93 is applied only to one of the pixelsas the representative of the four pixels. In the explanations providedbelow, the extending direction of the scanning line 3 is referred to asthe x direction, the extending direction of the data line 5 is referredto as the y direction, a pixel on a given coordinate is referred to as apixel 93 (x, y), the n-th pixel from the pixel 93 (x, y) in the xdirection is referred to as a pixel 93 (x+n, y), and the m-th pixel fromthe pixel 93 (x, y) in the y direction is referred to as a pixel 93 (x,y+m).

As in the case of the sixth exemplary embodiment, the alignment azimuth86 or the alignment azimuth 87 is not divided within one pixel 93 in theseventh exemplary embodiment, and the alignment azimuths 86, 87 areorthogonal to each other between the pixel 93 (x, y) and the pixel 93(x, y+1). In the sixth exemplary embodiment, the alignment azimuths 86and 87 are orthogonal to each other also between the pixel 92 (x, y) andthe pixel 92 (x+1, y). However, in the seventh exemplary embodiment, thealignment azimuths 86 and 87 are set to be the same between the pixel 93(x, y) and the pixel 93 (x+1, y).

Accordingly, the directions of the strip pixel electrodes 9 are set tobe orthogonal to each other between the pixel 93 (x, y) and the pixel 93(x, y+1) and set to be the same between the pixel 93 (x, y) and thepixel 93 (x+1, y). The angles formed between the alignment azimuths 86,87 and the extending direction of the strip pixel electrodes 9 are setto be the same between the neighboring pixels 93. Further, the pretiltof the liquid crystal is set to be 0 degree. Regarding the neighboringpixels 93, the interval and the width of the strip pixel electrodes 9are designed appropriately in such a manner that the transmittancethereof when viewed from the front side becomes almost equivalent.

With this, the voltage-luminance characteristics show low-voltage sideshift within one pixel 93 when viewed from the alignment azimuths 86 and87. However, when the neighboring pixels 93 are combined, thevoltage-luminance characteristics thereof from the oblique viewing anglecompensate with each other. Therefore, fine viewing anglecharacteristics can be acquired. In this case, all the pixels 93 in thex direction can be arranged in the same alignment azimuth 86 oralignment azimuth 87, so that alignment processing can be performedefficiently.

Eighth Exemplary Embodiment

An eighth exemplary embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed by referring to FIG. 32. FIG. 32 is a plan view showing thestructure of four pixels neighboring to each other along the data lineextending direction and the scanning line extending direction in aliquid crystal display device according to the eighth exemplaryembodiment.

In FIG. 32, a reference numeral 94 is applied only to one of the pixelsas the representative of the four pixels. In the explanations providedbelow, the extending direction of the scanning line 3 is referred to asthe x direction, the extending direction of the data line 5 is referredto as the y direction, a pixel on a given coordinate is referred to as apixel 94 (x, y), the n-th pixel from the pixel 94 (x, y) in the xdirection is referred to as a pixel 94 (x+n, y), and the m-th pixel fromthe pixel 94 (x, y) in the y direction is referred to as a pixel 94 (x,y+m).

As in the case of the sixth exemplary embodiment, the alignment azimuth86 or the alignment azimuth 87 is not divided within one pixel 94 in theeighth exemplary embodiment. Between the neighboring pixels 94, thealignment azimuths 86, 87 are orthogonal to each other, the extendingdirections of the strip pixel electrodes 9 are orthogonal to each other,and the angles formed between the alignment azimuths 86, 87 and theextending direction of the strip pixel electrodes 9 are the same.

Further, in the eighth exemplary embodiment, the directions of thepretilt are set to be 1 degree and to be opposite from each otherbetween the pixels 94 neighboring to each other in the oblique directionhaving the same alignment azimuths 86, 87, i.e., between the pixel 94(x, y) and the pixel 94 (x+1, y+1) as well as between the pixel 94 (x+1,y) and the pixel 94 (x, y+1). Between the neighboring pixels 94, theinterval and the width of the strip pixel electrodes 9 are designedappropriately in such a manner that the transmittance thereof whenviewed from the front side becomes almost equivalent.

With this, the voltage-luminance characteristics show low-voltage sideshift within one pixel 94 when viewed from the alignment azimuths 86 and87. However, when the neighboring pixels 94 are combined, thevoltage-luminance characteristics thereof from the oblique viewing anglecompensate with each other. Therefore, fine viewing anglecharacteristics can be acquired. In a case where different color layers(RGB) for each pixel 94 are disposed along the x direction and displayis provided by having three pixels 94 as a unit, the color layer of thepixel 94 (x, y) is the same as the color layer of the pixel 94 (x+3, y).Regarding the pixel 94 (x, y) and the pixel 94 (x+3, y), the alignmentazimuths 86, 87 are orthogonal to each other and the extendingdirections of the strip pixel electrodes 9 are orthogonal to each otheras well. With this layout, the pixel 94 (x, y), the pixel 94 (x, y+1),the pixel 94 (x+3, y), and the pixel 94 (x+3, y+1) are four kinds ofpixels 94 constituted with a combination of the two kinds of alignmentazimuths 86, 87 orthogonal to each other and the two kinds of pretiltreversed from each other. Therefore, the viewing angle characteristicscompensate with each other between the pixels 94 further, so that stillfiner viewing angle characteristics can be acquired.

As described, through forming the neighboring four pixels 94 of the samecolor layers with the four kinds of pixels 94 constituted with the twokinds of alignment azimuths 86, 87 and the two kinds of pretiltdirections, fine viewing angle characteristics can be acquired.

Ninth Exemplary Embodiment

A ninth exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be describedby referring to FIG. 33. FIG. 33 is a plan view showing the structure offour pixels neighboring to each other along the data line extendingdirection and the scanning line extending direction in a liquid crystaldisplay device according to the ninth exemplary embodiment.

In FIG. 33, a reference numeral 95 is applied only to one of the pixelsas the representative of the four pixels. In the explanations providedbelow, the extending direction of the scanning line 3 is referred to asthe x direction, the extending direction of the data line 5 is referredto as the y direction, a pixel on a given coordinate is referred to as apixel 95 (x, y), the n-th pixel from the pixel 95 (x, y) in the xdirection is referred to as a pixel 95 (x+n, y), and the m-th pixel fromthe pixel 95 (x, y) in the y direction is referred to as a pixel 95 (x,y+m).

As in the case of the seventh exemplary embodiment, the alignmentazimuth 86 or the alignment azimuth 87 is not divided within one pixel95 in the ninth exemplary embodiment, and the alignment azimuths 86, 87are orthogonal to each other between the pixel 95 (x, y) and the pixel95 (x, y+1). Further, the extending directions of the strip pixelelectrodes 9 are arranged to be orthogonal to each other between thepixel 95 (x, y) and the pixel 95 (x, y+1). The angles formed between thealignment azimuths 86, 87 and the extending direction of the strip pixelelectrodes 9 are set to be the same.

Further, in the ninth exemplary embodiment, the directions of thepretilt are set to be 1 degree and to be opposite from each otherbetween the pixel 95 (x, y) and the pixel 95 (x+1, y) neighboring toeach other in the x direction having the same alignment azimuth 87 aswell as between the pixel 95 (x, y+1) and the pixel 95 (x+1, y+1)neighboring to each other in the x direction having the same alignmentazimuth 86. Between the neighboring pixels 95, the interval and thewidth of the strip pixel electrodes 9 are designed appropriately in sucha manner that the transmittance thereof when viewed from the front sidebecomes almost equivalent.

With this, the voltage-luminance characteristics show low-voltage sideshift within one pixel 95 when viewed from the alignment azimuths 86 and87. However, when the neighboring pixels 95 are combined, thevoltage-luminance characteristics thereof from the oblique viewing anglecompensate with each other. Therefore, fine viewing anglecharacteristics can be acquired.

In a case where color layers (RGB) different for each pixel 95 aredisposed along the x direction and display is provided by having threepixels 95 as a unit, the color layer of the pixel 95 (x, y) is the sameas the color layer of the pixel 95 (x+3, y). Regarding the pixel 95 (x,y) and the pixel 95 (x+3, y), the alignment azimuths 87 are the same andthe directions of the pretilt of the liquid crystal are opposite fromeach other. With this layout, the pixel 95 (x, y), the pixel 95 (x,y+1), the pixel 95 (x+3, y), and the pixel 95 (x+3, y+1) are four kindsof pixels 95 constituted with a combination of the two kinds ofalignment azimuths 86, 87 orthogonal to each other and the two kinds ofpretilt reversed from each other. Therefore, the viewing anglecharacteristics compensate with each other between the pixels 95further, so that still finer viewing angle characteristics can beacquired.

As described, through forming the neighboring four pixels 95 of the samecolor layers with the four kinds of pixels 95 constituted with the twokinds of alignment azimuths 86, 87 and the two kinds of pretiltdirections, fine viewing angle characteristics can be acquired.Moreover, all the pixels 95 in the x direction can be provided in thesame alignment azimuth 86 or alignment azimuth 87, so that alignmentprocessing can be performed efficiently.

Tenth Exemplary Embodiment

A tenth exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be describedby referring to FIG. 38. FIG. 38 shows the initial alignment directionof the liquid crystal in twelve pixels neighboring to each other alongthe data line extending direction and the scanning line extendingdirection in a liquid crystal display device according to the tenthexemplary embodiment.

In FIG. 38, three pixels 96R, 96G, and 96B neighboring to each other inthe x direction constitute one unit 96 for display. A numeral reference96 is applied only to a single unit by representing the four pieces ofone unit. In the explanations provided below, the extending direction ofthe scanning line 3 is referred to as the x direction, the extendingdirection of the data line 5 is referred to as the y direction, one uniton a given coordinate is referred to as one unit 96 (x, y), the n-thunit from the one unit 96 (x, y) in the x direction is referred to asone unit 96 (x+n, y), and the m-th unit from the one unit 96 (x, y) inthe y direction is referred to as one unit 96 (x, y+m).

The units 96 (x, y), 96 (x+1, y), 96 (x, y+1), and 96 (x+1, y+1) of thetenth exemplary embodiment correspond to the pixels 92 (x, y), 92 (x+1,y), 92 (x, y+1), and 92 (x+1, y+1) shown in FIG. 30, respectively. Thepixels 96R, 96 and 96B are provided with a color filter of respectivecolor layers of R (red), G (green), and B (blue). The structure of theinside of the pixels 96R, 96G, and 96B are the same as that of the pixel92 shown in FIG. 30, so that the illustration thereof is omitted.

In the tenth exemplary embodiment, the alignment azimuth 86 or thealignment azimuth 87 of the liquid crystal within the one unit 96 is notdivided. Between the one unit 96 (x, y) and the one unit 96 (x+1, y) aswell as between the one unit 96 (x, y) and the one unit 96 (x, y+1), thealignment azimuths 86 and 87 are orthogonal to each other, the extendingdirections of the strip pixel electrodes are orthogonal to each other,and the angles formed between the alignment azimuths 86, 87 and theextending direction of the strip pixel electrodes are the same. Further,the pretilt of the liquid crystal is set to be 0 degree. Regarding theneighboring units 96, the interval and the width of the strip pixelelectrodes are designed appropriately in such a manner that thetransmittance thereof when viewed from the front side becomes almostequivalent. With this, the voltage-luminance characteristics showlow-voltage side shift within the one unit 96 when viewed from thealignment azimuths 86 and 87. However, when the neighboring units 96 arecombined, the voltage-luminance characteristics thereof from the obliqueviewing angle compensate with each other. Therefore, fine viewing anglecharacteristics can be acquired. Further, in a case where a relativelyhigh gradation is displayed only in a specific one unit 96 and blackdisplay is provided in the peripheral units 96, there is no compensationdone between the neighboring units 96 when viewed obliquely from thealignment azimuths 86 and 87. Even in such case, it becomes hard to havecoloration of the one unit 96 since the pixels 96R, 96G, and 96Bconstituting one unit 96 are facing the same azimuth 86 or 87 and makethe same shift. While the case where the pixels 96R, 96G, and 96B arelined in the x direction is described above, the same effects can beacquired also in a case where the pixels 96R, 96G, and 96B are lined inthe y direction by constituting the one unit 96 in the manner describedabove.

Eleventh Exemplary Embodiment

An eleventh exemplary embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed by referring to FIG. 39. FIG. 39 shows the initial alignmentdirection of the liquid crystal in twelve pixels neighboring to eachother along the data line extending direction and the scanning lineextending direction in a liquid crystal display device according to theeleventh exemplary embodiment. In FIG. 39, three pixels 97R, 97G, and97B neighboring to each other in the x direction constitute one unit 97for display. A numeral reference 97 is applied only to a single unit byrepresenting the four pieces of one unit. In the explanations providedbelow, the extending direction of the scanning line 3 is referred to asthe x direction, the extending direction of the data line 5 is referredto as the y direction, one unit on a given coordinate is referred to asone unit 97 (x, y), the n-th unit from the one unit 97 (x, y) in the xdirection is referred to as one unit 97 (x+n, y), and the m-th unit fromthe one unit 97 (x, y) in the y direction is referred to as one unit 97(x, y+m).

The units 97 (x, y), 97 (x+1, y), 97 (x, y+1), and 97 (x+1, y+1) of theeleventh exemplary embodiment correspond to the pixels 94 (x, y), 94(x+1, y), 94 (x, y+1), and 94 (x+1, y+1) shown in FIG. 32, respectively.The pixels 96R, 96G, and 96B are provided with a color filter ofrespective color layers of R (red), G (green), and B (blue). Thestructure of the inside of the pixels 97R, 97G, and 97B are the same asthat of the pixel 94 shown in FIG. 32, so that the illustration thereofis omitted.

As in the case of the tenth exemplary embodiment, the alignment azimuth86 or the alignment azimuth 87 is not divided within one unit 97 in theeleventh exemplary embodiment. Between the neighboring units 97, thealignment azimuths 86, 87 are orthogonal to each other, the extendingdirections of the strip pixel electrodes are orthogonal to each other,and the angles formed between the alignment azimuths 86, 87 and theextending direction of the strip pixel electrodes are the same.

Further, in the eleventh exemplary embodiment, the directions of thepretilt are set to be 1 degree and to be opposite from each otherbetween the units 97 neighboring to each other in the oblique directionhaving the same alignment azimuths 86, 87, i.e., between the one unit 97(x, y) and the one unit 97 (x+1, y+1) as well as between the one unit 97(x+1, y) and the one unit 97 (x, y+1). Between the neighboring units 97,the interval and the width of the strip pixel electrodes 9 are designedappropriately in such a manner that the transmittance thereof whenviewed from the front side becomes almost equivalent.

With this, the voltage-luminance characteristics show low-voltage sideshift within one unit 97 when viewed from the alignment azimuths 86 and87. However, when the neighboring units 97 are combined, thevoltage-luminance characteristics thereof from the oblique viewing anglecompensate with each other. Therefore, fine viewing anglecharacteristics can be acquired. With this layout, the one unit 97 (x,y), the one unit 97 (x, y+1), the one unit 97 (x+1, y), and the one unit97 (x+1, y+1) are four kinds of units 97 constituted with a combinationof the two kinds of alignment azimuths 86, 87 orthogonal to each otherand the two kinds of pretilt reversed from each other. Therefore, theviewing angle characteristics compensate with each other between theunits 97, so that still finer viewing angle characteristics can beacquired.

Further, in a case where a relatively high gradation is displayed onlyin a specific one unit 97 and black display is provided in theperipheral units 97, there is no compensation done between theneighboring units 97 when viewed obliquely from the alignment azimuths86 and 87. Even in such case, it becomes hard to have coloration of theone unit 97 since the pixels 97R, 97G, and 97B constituting one unit 97are facing the same azimuth 86 or 87 and make the same shift. While thecase where the pixels 97R, 97G, and 97B are lined in the x direction isdescribed above, the same effects can be acquired also in a case wherethe pixels 97R, 97G, and 97B are lined in the y direction byconstituting the one unit 97 in the manner described above.

While the present invention has been described by referring to thespecific exemplary embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, thepresent invention is not limited only to each of the exemplaryembodiments shown in the drawings. Any changes and modificationsoccurred to those skilled in the art can be applied to the structuresand the details of the present invention. Further, it is to be notedthat the present invention includes combinations of a part of or theentire part of each of the exemplary embodiments combined mutually in anappropriate manner.

While a part of or the entire part of the exemplary embodiments can besummarized as in following Supplementary Notes, the present invention isnot necessarily limited to those structures.

(Supplementary Note 1)

A lateral electric field liquid crystal display device which includes: asubstrate; a plan electrode formed in a plan form on the substrate; astrip electrode or strip electrodes formed in a strip form on the planelectrode via an insulating film; and a liquid crystal alignedsubstantially in parallel to the substrate, and the liquid crystaldisplay device controls a display by rotating the liquid crystal withina plane substantially in parallel to the substrate by an electric fieldbetween the plan electrode and the strip electrode, wherein:

-   -   each pixel constituting the display is divided into a first        region and a second region;    -   an extending direction of the strip electrode of the first        region and an extending direction of the strip electrode of the        second region are orthogonal;    -   an alignment azimuth of the liquid crystal of the first region        and an alignment azimuth of the liquid crystal of the second        region are orthogonal; and    -   an angle formed between the extending direction of the strip        electrode in the first region and the alignment azimuth of the        liquid crystal and an angle formed between the extending        direction of the strip electrode in the second region and the        alignment azimuth of the liquid crystal are same.

(Supplementary Note 2)

The lateral electric field liquid crystal display device as depicted inSupplementary Note 1, wherein the first region and the second region areformed to have almost a same-size area.

(Supplementary Note 3)

The lateral electric field liquid crystal display device as depicted inSupplementary Note 1 or 2, wherein a pretilt angle of the liquid crystalis substantially 0 degree, and voltage-transmittance properties whenviewed from oblique viewing angles which are in 180 degree differentazimuths are almost equivalent.

(Supplementary Note 4)

The lateral electric field liquid crystal display device as depicted inSupplementary Note 1 or 2, wherein:

-   -   the liquid crystal has the pretilt angle larger than 0 degree;    -   the first region includes a third region and a fourth region        whose pretilt angles face opposite directions from each other;        and    -   the second region includes a fifth region and a sixth region        whose pretilt angles face opposite directions from each other.

(Supplementary Note 5)

The lateral electric field liquid crystal display device as depicted inSupplementary Note 4, wherein:

-   -   the third region and the fourth region are formed to have almost        a same-size area; and    -   the fifth region and the sixth region are formed to have almost        a same-size area.

(Supplementary Note 6)

The lateral electric field liquid crystal display device as depicted inSupplementary Note 4 or 5, wherein a boundary between the third regionand the fourth region and a boundary between the fifth region and thesixth region are formed along the strip electrode, respectively.

(Supplementary Note 7)

The lateral electric field liquid crystal display device as depicted inany one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 6, wherein a light shielding layeris provided at least either in the substrate or a counter substratethereof in the boundary between the first region and the second region.

(Supplementary Note 8)

The lateral electric field liquid crystal display device as depicted inSupplementary Note 7, wherein the light shielding layer exists on thesubstrate, and the light shielding layer is formed with a nontransparentmetal layer having a potential equivalent to that of the plan electrodeor the strip electrode.

(Supplementary Note 9)

A method for manufacturing the lateral electric field liquid crystaldisplay device as depicted in any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 8,wherein alignment processing of the liquid crystal is performed byphoto-alignment.

(Supplementary Note 11)

A liquid crystal display device which includes a transparent electrodeformed in a plan form and a strip electrode disposed thereon via aninsulating film, and controls display by rotating the liquid crystalaligned substantially in parallel to a substrate within a plane that issubstantially in parallel to the substrate by an electric field betweenthe both electrodes, wherein:

-   -   each pixel constituting the display is divided into two regions;        the extending directions of the strip electrode in each of the        regions are set to be orthogonal so that the directions of the        lateral electric fields formed in each of the regions become        orthogonal to each other; the alignment azimuths of the liquid        crystal of each of the regions are orthogonal; and the angles        formed between the extending directions of the strip electrode        and the alignment azimuth of the liquid crystal are the same.

(Supplementary Note 12)

The lateral electric field liquid crystal display device as depicted inSupplementary Note 11, wherein the two regions having orthogonalalignment azimuths are formed to have almost a same-size area.

(Supplementary Note 13)

The lateral electric field liquid crystal display device as depicted inSupplementary Note 11 or 12, wherein:

-   -   a pretilt angle of the liquid crystal is substantially 0 degree;        and    -   voltage-transmittance properties when viewed from oblique        viewing angles which are in 180 degree different azimuths are        almost equivalent.

(Supplementary Note 14)

The lateral electric field liquid crystal display device as depicted inSupplementary Note 11 or 12, wherein:

-   -   the liquid crystal has the pretilt angle larger than 0 degree;        and    -   two regions having pretilt of opposite facing directions from        each other exist in the two regions of orthogonal alignment        azimuths.

(Supplementary Note 15)

The lateral electric field liquid crystal display device as depicted inSupplementary Note 14, wherein the two regions having pretilt ofopposite facing directions from each other existing in each of theregions of the two alignment azimuths are formed to have substantially asame-size area.

(Supplementary Note 16)

The lateral electric field liquid crystal display device as depicted inSupplementary Note 14 or 15, wherein a boundary between the two regionshaving pretilt of opposite facing directions from each other existing ineach of the regions of the two alignment azimuths is formed along thestrip transparent electrode.

(Supplementary Note 17)

The lateral electric field liquid crystal display device as depicted inany one of Supplementary Notes 11 to 16, wherein at least one of thesubstrates includes a light shielding layer in the boundary between theregions whose alignment azimuths are orthogonal to each other.

(Supplementary Note 18)

The lateral electric field liquid crystal display device as depicted inSupplementary Note 17, wherein:

-   -   the light shielding layer for shielding the boundary between the        regions having the alignment azimuths orthogonal to each other        exists on the substrate where the electrode for forming the        lateral electric field; and    -   the light shielding layer is formed with a nontransparent metal        layer having a potential equivalent to that of the common        electrode or the pixel electrode.

(Supplementary Note 19)

A method for manufacturing the lateral electric field liquid crystaldisplay device as depicted in any one of Supplementary Notes 11 to 18,wherein alignment processing of the liquid crystal is performed byphoto-alignment.

(Supplementary Note 20)

A lateral electric field liquid crystal display device which includes: asubstrate; a plan electrode formed in a plan form on the substrate; astrip electrode or strip electrodes formed in a strip form on the planelectrode via an insulating film; and a liquid crystal alignedsubstantially in parallel to the substrate, and the liquid crystaldisplay device controls a display by rotating the liquid crystal withina plane substantially in parallel to the substrate by an electric fieldbetween the plan electrode and the strip electrode, wherein:

-   -   a plurality of pixels constituting the display are arranged in        matrix in x direction and y direction;    -   within one of the pixels, an alignment azimuth of the liquid        crystal is one direction and an extending direction of the strip        electrode is one direction; and    -   between the pixels neighboring to each other at least in one of        the x direction and the y direction, extending directions of the        strip electrodes are orthogonal to each other, alignment        azimuths of the liquid crystal are orthogonal to each other, and        angles formed between the extending direction of the strip        electrode and the alignment azimuth of the liquid crystal are        same.

(Supplementary Note 21)

A lateral electric field liquid crystal display device which includes: asubstrate; a plan electrode formed in a plan form on the substrate; astrip electrode or strip electrodes formed in a strip form on the planelectrode via an insulating film; and a liquid crystal alignedsubstantially in parallel to the substrate, and the liquid crystaldisplay device controls a display by rotating the liquid crystal withina plane substantially in parallel to the substrate by an electric fieldbetween the plan electrode and the strip electrode, wherein:

-   -   a plurality of pixels constituting the display are arranged in        matrix in x direction and y direction;    -   the plurality of pixels neighboring to each other in the x        direction or the y direction showing different colors constitute        one unit for the display;    -   within the one unit, an alignment azimuth of the liquid crystal        is one direction and an extending direction of the strip        electrode is one direction; and    -   between the units neighboring to each other at least in one of        the x direction and the y direction, extending directions of the        strip electrodes are orthogonal to each other, the alignment        azimuths of the liquid crystal are orthogonal to each other, and        angles formed between the extending direction of the strip        electrode and the alignment azimuth of the liquid crystal are        same.

(Supplementary Note 22)

The lateral electric field liquid crystal display device as depicted inSupplementary Note 10 or 11, wherein a pretilt angle of the liquidcrystal is substantially 0 degree, and voltage-transmittance propertieswhen viewed from oblique viewing angles which are in 180 degreedifferent azimuths are almost equivalent.

(Supplementary Note 23)

The lateral electric field liquid crystal display device as depicted inSupplementary Note 10 or 11, wherein:

-   -   the liquid crystal has a pretilt angle larger than 0 degree; and    -   four of the pixels having the same color layer neighboring to        each other in the x direction and the y direction are four kinds        of pixels constituted with a combination of two kinds of the        liquid crystal alignment azimuths orthogonal to each other and        two kinds of the liquid crystal pretilt directions reversed from        each other.

The present invention can be utilized for IPS active matrix type liquidcrystal display device and arbitrary apparatuses which use the liquidcrystal display device as a display device.

What is claimed is:
 1. A lateral electric field liquid crystal displaydevice, comprising: a substrate; a planar electrode formed in a planarform on the substrate; strip electrodes formed in a strip form on theplanar electrode via an insulating film; and a liquid crystal alignedsubstantially in parallel to the substrate, the liquid crystal displaydevice controlling a display by rotating the liquid crystal within aplane substantially in parallel to the substrate by an electric fieldbetween the planar electrode and the strip electrodes, wherein: eachpixel constituting the display is divided into a first region and asecond region; an extending direction of a strip electrode of the firstregion and an extending direction of a strip electrode of the secondregion are orthogonal; an alignment azimuth of the liquid crystal of thefirst region at a time when an electric field is not applied and analignment azimuth of the liquid crystal of the second region at the timewhen the electric field is not applied are orthogonal; and an angleformed between the extending direction of the strip electrode in thefirst region and the alignment azimuth of the liquid crystal at the timewhen the electric field is not applied and an angle formed between theextending direction of the strip electrode in the second region and thealignment azimuth of the liquid crystal at the time when the electricfield is not applied are the same.
 2. The lateral electric field liquidcrystal display device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first regionand the second region are formed to have substantially the same area. 3.The lateral electric field liquid crystal display device as claimed inclaim 1, wherein a pretilt angle of the liquid crystal is substantially0 degrees, and voltage-transmittance properties when viewed from obliqueviewing angles having azimuths different by 180 degrees aresubstantially equivalent.
 4. The lateral electric field liquid crystaldisplay device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a light shielding layer isprovided at least either in the substrate or a counter substrate thereofin the boundary between the first region and the second region.
 5. Thelateral electric field liquid crystal display device as claimed in claim4, wherein the light shielding layer exists on the substrate, and thelight shielding layer is formed with a nontransparent metal layer havinga potential equivalent to that of the planar electrode or the stripelectrodes.
 6. A method for manufacturing the lateral electric fieldliquid crystal display device as claimed in claim 1, wherein alignmentprocessing of the liquid crystal is performed by photo-alignment.
 7. Alateral electric field liquid crystal display device, comprising: asubstrate; a planar electrode formed in a planar form on the substrate;strip electrodes formed in a strip form on the planar electrode via aninsulating film; and a liquid crystal aligned substantially in parallelto the substrate, the liquid crystal display device controlling adisplay by rotating the liquid crystal within a plane substantially inparallel to the substrate by an electric field between the planarelectrode and the strip electrodes, wherein: a plurality of pixelsconstituting the display are arranged in matrix along x and ydirections; within one of the pixels, an alignment azimuth of the liquidcrystal at a time when an electric field is not applied is one directionand an extending direction of the strip electrodes is another direction;and between the pixels neighboring to each other at least in one of thex direction and the y direction, extending directions of the stripelectrodes are orthogonal to each other, alignment azimuths of theliquid crystal at the time when the electric field is not applied areorthogonal to each other, and angles formed between the extendingdirection of the strip electrodes and the alignment azimuth of theliquid crystal at the time when the electric field is not applied arethe same.
 8. The lateral electric field liquid crystal display device asclaimed in claim 7, wherein a pretilt angle of the liquid crystal issubstantially 0 degrees, and voltage-transmittance characteristics whenviewed from oblique viewing angles having azimuths different by 180degrees are substantially equivalent.
 9. A lateral electric field liquidcrystal display device, comprising: a substrate; a planar electrodeformed in a planar form on the substrate; strip electrodes formed in astrip form on the planar electrode via an insulating film; and a liquidcrystal aligned substantially in parallel to the substrate, the liquidcrystal display device controlling a display by rotating the liquidcrystal within a plane substantially in parallel to the substrate by anelectric field between the planar electrode and the strip electrodes,wherein: a plurality of pixels constituting the display are arranged inmatrix along x and y directions; a plurality of pixels neighboring toeach other in the x direction or the y direction showing differentcolors constitute one unit for the display; within the one unit, analignment azimuth of the liquid crystal at a time when an electric fieldis not applied is one direction and an extending direction of the stripelectrodes is another direction; and between the units neighboring toeach other at least in one of the x direction and the y direction,extending directions of the strip electrodes are orthogonal to eachother, the alignment azimuths of the liquid crystal at the time when theelectric field is not applied are orthogonal to each other, and anglesformed between the extending direction of the strip electrodes and thealignment azimuth of the liquid crystal at the time when the electricfield is not applied are the same.
 10. The lateral electric field liquidcrystal display device as claimed in claim 9, wherein a pretilt angle ofthe liquid crystal is substantially 0 degrees, and voltage-transmittancecharacteristics when viewed from oblique viewing angles having azimuthsdifferent by 180 degrees are substantially equivalent.